What LA Used To Be
by Plage
Summary: How would your life be if you were starring in a real life TV show that takes place in LA and suddenly everything falls apart? Let's find out. AH
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So here's another story. I just had to write this one, because it has been stuck in my head for a while.  
>I hope you'll enjoy it. All mistakes are mine. Please don't hit me or chase me with an angry mob full of people carrying torches.<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 1.<strong>

With my Chanel sunglasses perched on my nose and a glass of iced tea in my hand I was sitting at a café, enjoying the rays of the sun and ignoring the few papparazzi shooting away. As for someone who worships the sun like I do LA is just the perfect city to live. The beach was a place where you would spot me very often. Hell, I would be there right now if I hadn't planned to meet up with my boyfriend, Bill.

We have been together for a couple of months now and things were going fine. Bill's always very charming and polite and he never failed to make me feel like the lady I am. The perfect boyfriend. Well, he would be, if he wasn't an half hour late and probably still drunk from last night. I let out a frustrated groan and grabbed my blackberry, no texts or missing calls.

Even though we were doing fine, lately it had been going downhill. Bill was living to party. Almost every night he would have some party to attend, got wasted and somehow managed to get home and sleep it all off. Only to repeat it the next day. Which meant that when we would be together he would be already drunk or very crabby. We were fine when he was sober and not hungover, but if he wasn't we would be fighting over stupid things. My best friend, Amelia, keeps telling me to break up with him. She hates him. Sometimes it pops up in my mind, breaking up, but I always push those thoughts away. I guess I'm just hoping the old Bill would return and that he would sweep me off my feet. I kept telling myself that this is just a fase and everything will go back to normal again.

At least as normal as it can be. How normal can your life actually be when you're in a realityshow on tv? I can know. Being the smalltown girl from Bon Temps the thought of being on tv never crossed my mind or even appealed to me. That was until I met Bill. A charming young man, also from Louisiana. He had dark brown hair and eyes, and he was very handsome. His rugged features made him look older, as well as the words he used and his manners.

Bill was the reason that sometimes there would be a whole crew in my appartment, filming me while I was cleaning up my closet or doing laundry. When we started dating he already was on the show. I was just an extra at that time, of some sorts. Our date and how we met wasn´t scripted, so it was all real. We ran into eachother while I was visiting Gran in Bon Temps. Our first date was normal, there just were cameras filming us, and there was a mic taped to my bra. First dates are awkward and nerve wrecking. First dates that will be edited and watched by hundreds of people are awkward and nerve wrecking times a thousand. I was so nervous that I spilled water over him, and I kept stuttering. Bill was very understanding and helped me through it all. We went out more and more and after a while the cameras weren´t bothering me that much anymore. People even began to recognize me, which was so weird. Eventually, the producers wanted me to be on the show too, and get more airtime and all that. At first, I wasn´t so thrilled about the idea of having almost no privacy. But Bill talked me into it, that it would be easier for us to be together if I would be on the show too. So I signed a contract.

It has been three months now since the signing of the contract and things were good. People recognized me a lot, and according to the producer Sophie-Anne they also loved me. I was the fresh face of the show, the innocent one. More importantly, they liked Bill and me as a couple. Sophie-Anne said my southern charms were endearing, and my life was easy to relate too. Something like that at least. As for my relationship; we are the perfect couple. The producer knows about Bill and his partying and also that we have been fighting more and more lately, but everything's edited so it looks like everything is all rainbows and sunshine.

My phone buzzed. It wasn't Bill, like I had hoped, but Amelia.

_How is ur date? Is he drunk yet? X_

I didn't answer it. I didn't want to give Amelia any more fuel for her fire and let her drone 'why you should break-up with this guy'-speech. This was something I could figure out on my own. Probably.

Amelia is also on the show. We moved here together and share the amazing appartment the show has given us, together with our cat Zazzers. Amelia was very excited about being on the show, even more so than me. Amelia always was into the whole glamour lifestyle. She grew up with plenty of money to spend, because her father had this big company. I was afraid that fame would change her, but thank God it didn't. Amelia stayed that bubbly and energetic girl with the short pixie haircut. Besides Amelia and me, you also have Tara. Tara was on the show already and we clicked immediately. Tara is very upfront and honest, just like Amelia. When you're known with the Hollywood-way, you'll appreaciate honesty a whole lot more. The amount of people that try to use you and lie to you just to get photographed or filmed is shocking. Luckily, Tara helped me adapt and made me see that there just were people who are plain evil. Welcome to the real world, is what she had said to me the first time we met. Basicly, in the 'real world' people give eachother airkisses and suck up for more attention. Also people don't eat and pets have the same use as handbags; to show off. Tara's cousin Lafayette was also a friend. He's very gay, but very sassy, and he is a miracle worker when it comes to hair and make-up. He has saved me quite some trips to the salon.

There also is another girl, Pam, but we've never really talked. Mainly because we just don't shoot many scenes together and she can be very bitchy. She scares me a little. And if we do have a scene together, there is one particular person with her. And that someone is the biggest pain in the ass in the world. His name is Eric Northman, or as I like to call him manwhore deluxe. He is friends with Bill, even though I don't see it, so we need to film scenes together. Always a pleasure. Not. Not only did he have an annoying attitude, he also was arrogant and smug. Did I mention he was annoying and a manwhore? We always meet in clubs, because that is where he basicly lives, and there's always booze and there are always women. Everywhere he goes, they follow.

He's tall, blond and very toned. Every girl he looks at turns into a puddle and he abuses that power way too much. Every time the three or four of us go out Eric ends up missing, and when the episode airs you'll know where he was. Always in a corner, always hitting on girls, always having a person to share a bed with. Or a car. Or a toilet. He would have sex anywhere. He drinks and parties just like Bill, but I don't know if he's worse. Whenever we're in a club, he walks around flashing his shiny white teeth and act all perfect, but I know what he's like and what kind of girls he has sex with. The most common sort is the twig with a bad boobjob, dead hair and a layer of paint on her face, dressed in something that barely passes for clothing. I've never seen him with a girl that carries some dignity. The guy is pathetic, and the worst thing is he's not even bothered by it. The people writing the little scripts we have always have to make sure we talk nice to eachother, because otherwise we wouldn't talk at all. And that isn't what the people want to see, so we just have to go along with it. Eric always makes my blood boil, and the jerk likes doing it. Everybody keeps saying that we have chemistry. I don't buy that. Yes, he's attractive. I'm a woman and I'm not made of stone, but no, he's a stupidhead.

Being forced to spend time with people you don't like is a downside, but there are some good sides too. Like the appartment with high-tech everything and a jaccuzzi. Or the free designer clothes and the invites to A-list parties. I shouldn't complain and I don't, at least not more than the usual person. After all, this is my job. I also do some writing for a cooking magazine. Cooking is my passion and hobby, but because of the show I don't have that much time left to cook like I used to. At least LA has some amazing restaurants, so at least I'll eat good food. No Burger King for Sookie.

After 5 more minutes of wasting my time waiting for someone that wouldn't show up anyway I grabbed my oversized leather bag and took off. I texted Amelia that I would be going home and wallow in selfpity with some icecream. She responded quickly. Amelia and I were speed-texters, I could even text blind. I had an old cellphone, but the show gave us both blackberrys, and after a while you just get the hang of it. Now it rarely leaves my palm.

_Srry Sook. Crew is here. Take bill with u. X_

God, just what I needed. I just braced myself and hoped we would be done soon, so I could watch some tv in peace. Also, I hope wouldn't be such a big deal if Bill wasn't there. I texted her that I had left and updated her on the Bill-situation.

_Bill didnt show up. Omw.x_

_Knew it. Hurry. Eric is annoyed. He says ur late._

Eric's in our house? It just keeps getting better and better.

After 10 minutes I finally drove up my driveway and parked the car. The minivan of the cameracrew was parked next to Amelia's black range rover, and if Eric was here; why was his red corvette missing? I ran to the stairs and made my way up. My arms were full, since I carried a bag, books and some catfood for our cat. I still had everything safe in my arms when I reached my door, now I just needed to get the keys out of my bag. But someone had already opened the door, and was standing in the doorway eyeing me. It was Eric, looking very annoyed and angry with his jaw clenched tight and his eyes were almost shooting lazer.

"You're late. And where the fuck is Bill?" Eric sneered. I shrugged and walked passed him to the kitchen. Eric acting like a whiny baby wasn't really what I wanted right now. I just got stood up by my boyfriend, was what I wanted to scream in his face, but I decided to let it go. He would probably think it's funny and tell the press all about it.

I could hear him follow me, but I chose to ignore his presence for now. When we would be filming whatever plan they had I would be nice to him. But not now, not when it wasn't for work.

Amelia was sitting in the kitchen, reading a magazine and drinking a bottle of water. She smiled and greeted me with enthusiasm, at least someone was happy to see me. I put away the catfood and threw my keys on the table, together with the books I was holding. I think I had all my training today, walking up those stairs and carrying that weight. Plus, I was fine with my figure. Who wants to be a stick? I like food, and I like eating it and actually digest it. Not throwing it up. Amelia took a swig from her water.

"Bill isn't here yet. Sophie-Anne keeps calling him but he doesn't pick up. He isn't home... they've checked." Amelia said plainly while flipping to the next page, like she was talking about the fact that it was raining. I couldn't help but feel concerned, what if he was driving under influence again and something happened. Bill did that a lot, driving under influence. I always told him not too, but he ignored me. When he was drunk he never listened to anyone. Some reality tv show. What's really happening is ignored, instead of finding Bill, we are now going to film a casual conversation. Being held with someone that I didn't even like.

"So what's planned?" I faked a smile. Better start warming up my smile musles, because I think that they will be working overtime.

"Nothing for me. I'll be off in like 10 minutes. Meeting Tray again at Apples. But they want you, Bill and Eric do some casual conversation, just to cover up something Pam did and explaining that to the audience." She flipped a page again.

I let it all soak in for a moment. Some casual conversation would be easy. Those shots don't take that long, and I think everyone on the crew including Sophie-Anne would enjoy going home early. Now they just needed Bill to arrive.

An hour passed. Amelia had left for her date with her fuckbuddy (because that's how she described their relationship), and I was here sitting in the kitchen reading the magazine that Amelia had left. It was mostly pictures of purses and shoes. The crew was sitting on the terrace, watching the sunset or something, talking and laughing loud. At least they weren't that annoyed about Bill (who by the way still hadn't called or texted and still didn't pick up his phone). When Amelia had left I wondered how the hell I would handle Eric's asshole attitude by myself, but he had disappeared. The last time I saw him was when he followed me to the kitchen, when I just got home. But also then he hadn't said anything and left me and Amelia. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of stilettos clicking on the wooden floor, and it sounded like they would carry their owner to me. It was Sophie-Anne, and she didn't look very happy. Mentally I prepared myself for the worst. One time I saw her yelling at a girl and it was total bitch-crazy. Sophie-Anne was just as red as her hair and the girl was in tears. Don't let the pantsuit fool you.

_Please don't go all batshit-crazy on me. Please don't. _Was repeated in my head.

"Seems like you and Eric have to do this scene alone. Follow me."

_At least she didn't yell at me,_ was the first thought that crossed my mind. Then it hit me, Eric and I were doing this alone. I can't do that. He's an asshole. But even though I wanted to run and hide I still followed Sophie-Anne, being on a tv show meant that every once in a while you just had to suck it up and do your job. Eric was already sitting outside on one of the outdoor couches at the firepit. A small fire was crackling and the light made Eric look even more handsome than he already was.

_Wait. Why did I even think that. He's a stupidhead.._

I sat myself down on the far end of the couch, keeping as much distance as possible. The director, Sam, coughed and motioned for me to scoot over. So I did. Not close enough, Sam coughed again. And I scooted over again. He gave me a thumb up, I rolled my eyes dramaticly.

"Am I that repulsive?" Eric whispered, leaning in just a little bit. If he was thinking he could charm me so easily he was so wrong.

"Yes." I spat back, also whispering. Eric grinned smugle. Was he onto me or something? Why did we even whisper? Why does he smell so good? No, don't think that about Eric. Stupidhead. But his laugh. No. He's the devil.

For the whole shooting, which consisted of half an hour repeating everything and Sam forcing us to talk more and act more friendly, I kept repeating to myself how stupid Eric was. Hating Eric from a distance was easy, but being so close to him made it so damn hard. How his blond hair was styled perfectly messy and how his v-neck fitted him. His stubble that somehow was begging to be touched. And how I nearly forgot to breathe when his blue eyes connected with my gaze. I don't think I ever had that intense eyecontact before.

He was obviously enjoying how flustered I became and that he even managed to make me blush. Yes, he was very charming and acted all gentleman-like, but I knew he was faking it. This was tv, this was fake. Eric is doing this so the people will love him and he gets more airtime. But even though I forced myself to think that way, I couldn't help but feel a little touched. And turned on.

When Sam ended the shooting, and the crew started gathering their stuff I wanted to get the hell out off dodge and headed for the kitchen. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and dinner sounded very appealing. Getting away from Eric was also one of the perks. As I grabbed some chicken from the fridge, along with some already cut vegetables I noticed I wasn't alone anymore.

Eric was leaning against the doorframe, just looking at me with this look in his eyes that could boil water. I kept asking myself if I had turned up the heating. The friend of your boyfriend shouldn't make you feel this way. His staring made me feel a bit uncomfortable, because I knew he watched my every move, and I cursed myself when I felt my head warm up again. Damn it, blushing again.  
>Slowly he walked over to the kitchen island and wiped away some invisible crumbs. You could cut the tension with a knife. But it was a different kind of tension, a tension that made my heartbeat pick up and my knees weak. It looked like Eric knew it too, since his hand kept going through his hair, messing it up.<br>The silence was broken by Eric, who spoke with an unusually husky voice. Like he was nervous.

"I didn't know you could cook."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for the alerts and reviews. :D  
>I'm sorry for not replying, but there's something wrong on the site so I just can't. But just know I've read them and thank you.<br>Next chapter after this will be an EPOV. I think a peek in his mind will be very interesting.  
>Enjoy!<strong>

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><p>"I didn't know you could cook." He simply stated. Was he actually trying to have a conversation with me? I put the chicken in the pan and washed my hands, and in my mind I wondered for what reason he acted nice to me. This was a game I did not want to play.<p>

"Look, Eric. You don't have to do this ok? We had a scene, and hopefully we won't in a long time. I know we don't get along and you don't have to get to know me, because I know Sophie-Anne probably forced you to do this. You can go home."

Being the brave person I am I avoided eyecontact and focused my attention on the vegetables on the plate in front of me. Eric hadn't moved at all.

"Sophie-Anne already left. And I'm not forced to do anything. Maybe I just want to make us both feel a bit more comfortable when we have more scenes. Because we will." He backfired. He wanted to feel more comfortable? Did I make him uncomfortable? Did he just say that he came here because he wanted to and not because he was being blackmailed?

"Oh."

Eric smiled, a real smile after my one syllable reply. Not the cocky asshole smile that he has plastered on his face most of the time, but a genuine smile. It took me no effort at all to smile back. Maybe this whole 'get comfortable'-thing would be easier than I thought.

"Yeah, I cook. I love it actually. My gran and I always were in the kitchen and just trying out new recipes and everything." My smile faded. I still missed gran, even though we talked over the phone a lot. Talking over the phone wasn't as satisfying as seeing the other in person. Eric sat down on one of the black fake-leather barstools, his expression more serious. A side I had never seen before.

"Do you miss your family a lot?"

"I miss my Gran, yes." I threw the vegetables in with the chicken and stirred.

"I don't miss my brother as much as I should. He's never been around much. And my parents died when I was young. My Gran took care of me and my brother."

Why was I even telling him this? Even though he said he wanted us to be more comfortable, he could easily be lying. I know how easy it is for him to lie, I've been watching him doing it for months now.

"I'm sorry about that." He sounded sincere and his eyes were filled with understanding, it surprised me. Here I was, cooking dinner and having a conversation with Eric Northman, who actually _was _capable of having emotions. The world is full of surprises. When I finished cooking dinner, my Southern charms took over.

"Are you hungry? I cooked for two persons." I asked as I walked over to the cupboard where the plates were stowed away. I always cooked for two, so Amelia had something to eat when she came back from wherever she would go without me. Amelia couldn't cook at all, she even has trouble making toast. She would have to make a sandwich now, if she came back tonight. She probably will sleep at Tray's.

"Yeah, that would be nice." The 'yeah' was spoken with a surprised tone in his voice, hell, I was surprised too. But the rest of the sentence was accompanied with his genuine smile again.

"It smells amazing." He smiled, I smiled. Things were going great so far.

I put his plate in front of him and asked if he wanted some wine. He accepted. Soon we were done eating and had finished a bottle of wine together making small talk, I avoided getting personal. Maybe he just wanted to dig up dirt.

I looked at the empty bottle of wine. I'm not used to drinking that much, and I felt tipsy and giggled more than usual. Even when going out, I kept my drinking to a minimum, because I know how stupid people can act when they're drunk. Bill being an example.

"I should go. It's getting pretty late." Eric said and stood up to clean up our plates. He also has manners, weird.

"How are you going home? Since you've been drinking and all."

"By foot. It's a nice walk and you don't have to deal with drunk driving." He grabbed his jacket and cellphone that has been going off non-stop. Probably all his girlfriends wanting to get laid, he must be a busy man. Even though we actually can have a conversation now, I'm not going to forget how he can be. He's still a manwhore and I'm still keeping my guards up around him.

I walked him to the front door and we said our goodbyes. Que the awkward do we hug or do we kiss on the cheeck or do we just shake hands. While my mind was anatomizing the social etiquette, Eric wrapped his arms around me and gave me a hug. In response, I wrapped my arms around him as well. The difference in height was uncomfortable at first, but now it felt perfect. He smells so great. He has nice muscles. Thank you God for creating this human being. I shocked myself while thinking like that and gently pushed him away, my body crying out over the loss of his heat. We were hugging way too long, and too tight. This isn't how you act with the friend of your boyfriend, even if it is a fake friendship. Oh my god, I have a boyfriend. I shouldn't think about any guy at all. Bill is the one I should be thinking about, besides Eric was just attractive. No attraction on any other front.

"I have a party next week on Saturday. If you would like to come that would be nice. Here's my number," he handed me a little card,"and just text me for details ok?"

I nodded and examined the little card. It was just his name and number printed on a white background, I hoped he didn't have stacks of this saved up to hand out to his flings.

"Yeah I'll call you. Or text you." I added, not going to make this sound date-like.

"I'll wait by the phone." Eric said in a low voice, that was oozing sex. Why was he doing this to me? He knows I'm off limits, and yet it seems like he's flirting with me. Is his army of skanks not fullfilling his needs? Eric totally was out of line.

Before I could go off on him, he had already walked away. I stole a glance at his ass. Eric did have a nice ass. It's better than Bill's. No. Boyfriend's ass should be better than manwhore's ass. Stop betraying me body, I chastised myself. I managed to peel my eyes away from the view and closed the door and locked it. As I turned around I saw Zazzers glaring at me from the hallway floor with his big green eyes.

"Don't judge me Zazzers." Zazzer didn't move, he just kept glaring at me.

Then I realized I actually went crazy, thinking my cat was judging my behaviour. Eric was messing with my mind, and the worst part was that I didn't even know if he did it on purpose or not. This whole situation was infuriating.

The next morning I was woken by the sound of my ringtone, an annoying sound and it wasn't the way I liked to wake up. As I looked at the caller ID I saw it was Bill, so immediately I picked up.

"What the hell Bill. Where were you?" I spat. Not a morning person, not at all. Team that up with the fact he has been missing all day and stood me up, and that gives you a very annoyed Sookie Stackhouse.

"I was just out." He answered, like it was normal to just disappear.

"Just out? _Just out? _For a whole day? People are worried about you, I'm worried about you." I shrieked out in a frequency that was unknown to me until now.

Nothing but silence, only his breathing. Suddenly I heard some other sounds, like he was lying in bed. Maybe he was home, at least he got home safely. Then there was a voice, a woman's voice. A voice that told him to hang up and fuck her at least once more before he had to go. It took a while before it dawned on me. This could not be happening. It took everything I had to not drop my phone. Everything was clear; he was cheating on me. I meant nothing to him. He has been lying to me and I don't even know for how long. I should've listened to Amelia, but no, I needed to be naïve and I needed someone to love me. And now it turns out that person never loved me to begin with, or maybe he did love me. Maybe this wasn't his fault. My mind jumped from explanation to explanation, some in Bill's advantage, some in his disadvantage.

Bill kept asking if I was still there, obviously he wasn't aware that I had picked up the sounds of his mistress or whatever she was. Slowly I removed my phone from my ears and clicked on the red button to hang up. Tears were streaming down my face, and my breathing was all messed up. I crawled back under the covers again and cried myself back to sleep.

A week had passed since the cheating incident. Bill has been very persistent in getting me to forgive him and kept trying to call me and texting me 'saying he's sorry and loves me and wants me back'. Right. I deleted them all and only texted him one thing. Amelia was there with me as I send him the message. At that moment I was near to tears, while Amelia was cheering and whistling like she was watching the Superbowl. She just really hated Bill.

_We r done. Never want to see or talk to you again. _

Even though I always frowned upon not breaking up in person, this was the only way I thought it could be done. I just didn't want to see him. He broke my heart and I've never felt so humiliated.

Amelia was a great help. She said the right things and cheered me up, and I was out of my trainwreck state in no time, which I hadn't expected at all. It felt nice that there was someone to help me. Tara also came over a lot, with a bottle of wine and some snacks which we would drink and eat while watching a movie. On the internet was already a big scandal over me and Bill breaking up, but that he cheated on me wasn't mentioned. Maybe that was for the best, I didn't want the pity of the media just yet. I did however want Bill to get what he deserved. That my personal life was splattered all over tv and the internet was enough, and for now that was more than I had bargained for. I came on the show for Bill, so we could be together, and now there wasn't a reason for me to stay at all. But after I talked with Amelia about it, I decided that I now did this for me and noone else. This was my life, and I was stupid enough to let it get shaped up by a guy who didn't turn out to be the person I thought he was. Sophie-Anne had called me, and she told me that we had to explain our break-up in the show. I was fine with the fact that I had to talk about Bill cheating on me, even if it did hurt. Bill would deny it ofcourse. Hello tv drama.

Now we're mentioning persons who turn out to be different; Eric was very understanding about the Bill-drama and it freaked me out. The day the story broke, he texted me and asked if I was okay and how I handled it. It was sweet and it totally came unexpected, and it feels weird to admit it, but I actually felt my heartbeat pick up. Every time I would get a text from Eric, my stomach was doing this crazy dance. I ignored it, or at least tried to. Sookie wasn't going to get involved with another manwhore. I've learned from Bill, and Eric is just like him, so it's a no-go.

Amelia and Tara forced me to accept his invitation, because I needed the distraction and I needed to go out and have fun. Tonight was his party, and I felt excited.

I was sitting on the bed, watching Amelia and Tara go through my closet. I dodged a little dress, that Tara so carefully threw away. After a while of mumbling 'no' and pulling out every piece of clothing I owned Amelia squeeled and jumped up and down.

"I found the dress." she squeeled and jumped up and down.

"You'll definitely get laid wearing that." Tara added with a knowing smirk.

"I don't want to get laid. I want to have fun." I defended myself. Tara and Amelia were trying to get me back in the field again, but I thought it was too soon.

"But isn't getting laid fun?" the expression on her face was priceless, like I had three heads all of a sudden.

"Fine. Just let a cobweb grow down there." Tara dramatically rolled her eyes at me when I stuck my tongue out, and handed me the red dress. I shooed them away and changed into it. It actually looked great on me, if I may say so myself. It hugged all my curves and was just perfect. Not too dressy, but not too casual. I topped it all off with some black pumps. I looked at myself in the mirror. My long blond hair was falling over my shoulders in loose curls. For the first times since the break-up I felt fine with myself again. I was curvy, but I liked it and even though I wasn't a covergirl it could've been worse. A smile appeared on my face and with that smile I walked out in the hallway. Amelia and Tara approved of my outfit with cat calls and whistles. They also looked great, they always did. Amelia was always over the top, but it suited her. Tonight she was wearing a purple dress with ruffles around the neckline, huge ruffles. Only Amelia could pull that off. Tara was wearing a simple white dress, that made her chocolate coloured skin stand out perfectly. I gave Zazzers a kiss and then we were walking to Eric's condo. Our arms were hooked, and we laughed and joked the whole way. The walk really was nice, and Eric was right about the distance, it wasn't far and took us only 10 minutes.

Eric's condo was really nice, Amelia even let out a little gasp when first laying eyes on it. He had a house that was built on the side of a small a hill, so it looked like it stuck out of the hill, floating in mid-air. Very sleek and modern. Just like I had expected from him. _It probably looks like Barney Stinson's appartment_, I thought, _maybe he also has a life size stormtrooper._ Tara gave me a strange look when I giggled at my own thoughts.

Amelia ran to the gate and we were buzzed in, the garden was just as modern as the house. As soon as we set foot in the house, there were voices and music playing in the background, a party was definitely going on here. And I was right about the interior, a true bachelor living here. Everything was modern and in earthy tones, no personal stuff spotted and there were old movie posters decorating the walls, framed ofcourse. A neat bachelor he was. There weren't even plastic cups lying around and the only thing that was messy was the big pile of coats lying in the hallway.

When we walked into the house we were greeted by Eric, who was looking very fine in a blue shirt that matched his eyes perfectly. It was paired with fitted light washed jeans. Thank you Levi's for creating those jeans. I felt his eyes roam my body as he gave me a once over, a very slow one. I couldn't help but blush. This man will be the death of me, no doubt. Amelia and Tara greeted him with enthusiasm, not noticing the way Eric looked me up and down, and went to the kitchen, because that's where they kept the booze.

Eric walked over to me, and gave me a quick hug.

"You look amazing." he said softly as he let go off me.

Girls around the world would've melted after hearing that and seeing the way his eyes were roaming my body, but I'm not your standard girl. I'm just stubborn and ignored the way my body heated up.  
>"I'm going to get something to drink." I sputtered and walked passed him to the alcohol. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and took a large gulp. This wasn't good. I shouldn't have come. I heard footsteps coming from the hall, it was Eric. He looked very confused, but said or asked nothing and also grabbed a beer, opened it, turned to me like he was going to say something but didn't, instead he left the room. Now leaving me confused.<p>

Why are we even playing this stupid game? Shouldn't this be simple and easy and breezy? Instead, we're circeling around eachother and taking baby steps forward, only to get back to our original spot. I don't even know what his deal is. I don't know that much about him, I don't even know if he's dating someone. Or if one of his bedwarmers is here. He knows I'm single, the whole world knows it. So if he wanted to make a move he already would have done so, not that I wanted him to. I'm wasting my time on thinking about something that won't work anyway. Eric was still Eric. Eric was still Bill's friend. Off-limits. And I probably was just lonely. The comfort of having someone was gone now.

Great. Now I was down again. Bill was still capable of ruining my mood, but I flicked a switch in my head, telling myself that I shouldn't let him. And so I followed the sounds of voices and music into the living room. It was a big open room, with glass surrounding you, except for the wall that separated the room and the rest of the house. A huge sliding door was opened, and people walked through it to sit on the terrace, which was illuminated with small garden lights. I scanned the faces in search of my friends, who I found sitting outside on the couches. I walked over to them with a smile, a fake one but still.

The booze was flowing, just as the conversation and everyone seemed to be having fun. I saw Eric a couple of times, but we didn't talk. It was like old times, except for the glances we gave eachother and the eyecontact. Whenever his blue eyes locked with mine, it was just us. Like there weren't 50 other people here right now having alcohol fueled conversations. However, our little bubble burst every time and real life would step in, since Amelia and Tara would pull me from my little trance with questions and more talking. Within an hour or so, I was updated with the gossip of the last week. Next week there would be more filming, that's what they told me, because the show must go on and soon the latest episode would air. There were some lunches planned, along with a promotion party for a new fragrance. For which we were all invited. At least the week wouldn't be that busy and I could still have some relaxing time.

Amelia went to the kitchen to get some more beers, and returned with a guy. He was tall, but not as tall as Eric, toned and a black scruff. His hair was tousled and curly. A wolf, that was what he reminded me off.

"Alcide, this is Sookie. Sookie, this is a friend of Tray's. He works at the same nightclub." Amelia gently pushed him my way, grinning when we shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Amelia always tried to play matchmaker.

Alcide and I talked for a while. The guy was nice, handsome, great smile, great manners. All in all, he would be considered a great catch. But he did nothing for me. Nothing at all. My insides wouldn't go fuzzy when he smiled, my skin didn't tingle as he touched my arm, my heartbeat stayed normal when he leaned into me to whisper in my ear how pretty I looked. Yes, he said pretty. Normally, I would've squeeled from cuteness. Not tonight. Instead as he whispered in my ear, my eyes scanned the room for Eric's. I found him standing in the dooropening (does he have a thing for dooropenings?), staring at me and he wasn't looking happy. When our eyes met, he turned around and walked into the house. Was he mad at me for being over Bill this soon? Or was he mad at Alcide? Was he jealous? He couldn't be. We didn't even like eachother that much, right?

"Sookie?" Alcide touched my arm. "I asked you something. Do you want to go and meet for drinks sometime or something?" he didn't sound so sure of himself and the smile on his face showed how nervous he actually was.

The thought of dating Alcide wasn't that appealing to me. Not that he wasn't a great guy, because he was, but there wasn't any chemistry. Not from my side at least.

"I'm sorry. I would love to meet up sometime, but just as friends. I just broke up and I need some time alone."

Alcide smiled kindly and nodded.

"It's okay Sookie. We'll have drinks but just as friends. I'll give you my number."

We exchanged numbers, and set up a place and time. After that I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I walked inside again and went into the hallway, found the bathroom and took care of my needs. When I walked out of it, I noticed Eric sitting on the steps in front of his house, alone. His head resting on the palms of his hands. Was he already drunk?

When I opened the front door, his head snapped up and he turned around to face the person who interrupted his solitude.

"Are you okay?" obviously not.

"I'm fine." He said vexed. "Go back inside. Alcide must be missing you."

"You're not fine and Alcide won't be missing me. We're friends, that's all." I couldn't help to sound offended and mentioning the fact Alcide and I were just friends. He can't command me and tell me what to do. Eric huffed at my comeback.

"Do you let all your _friends _touch you like that?"

"Why are you acting like a total dick right now?"

"Why are you acting like a total whore?"

Bam. That was it. That was Eric's true form and it hurt when he said it. Somehow I thought he had changed and we could be friends. And maybe I felt so good around him when it was just us two. I bit my lip to hold back tears that were on the verge of pouring out. I wanted to shout back at him, and tell him he was the one that acted like a whore, but no. My body had another plan, and that was walking away. As I passed him on the steps a sob escaped my lungs. Great, now he knows I'm crying and he knows his plan of making me feel crap has succeeded. When I reached the end of the street walking faster than ever before on my Jimmy Choo's I heard someone follow me. At first I thought it would be Tara, Amelia or Alcide. But I was mistaken.

"Sookie." It was Eric's voice. The irritated and harsh tone was gone, now it sounded like he was desperate. Yeah right. Eric being desperate would happen if hell freezed over. Or when his sexlife would hit a low point.

"Stop walking. Please." He tried to grab my arm, but I pulled away and angrily rubbed my eyes, hoping that he wouldn't notice the tears.

"Eric. Leave me alone." I managed to choke out in a steady voice. Eric stopped following me, and I kept walking. Finally I had reached my apartment, and was ready to fall asleep and never wake up again. Real life sucks. Guys suck. Eric sucks. Bill sucks. Everything sucks. And if that wasn't bad enough; I had left my clutch at Eric. Great. Just great.

I grabbed the spare key that was hid behind a brick in the wall and opened the door.

The last 20 minutes had drained me, and the last energy I had was used to walk to my bed, change in my pyjama's and fall down. I fell asleep immediately, face down in my pillows.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Here it is, an EPOV. Well, after a short SPOV.  
>Sorry there is almost no progress, Eric had a lot of catching up to do.<br>It's still a bit (maybe not a bit, but a lot) of angst. But bear with them, they're just stubborn.  
>Give them time, they'll come around. For now enjoy their overload on feelings.<strong>

**Thanks for the reviews, if I could respond I would. The site still acts all craycray.**  
><strong>Enjoy!<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Even though I fell asleep within no time, the night was restless. I kept tossing and turning and cursed Eric. He was the reason why my mind wouldn't calm down. Every interaction we had shared that evening was analyzed, and it ended up in me feeling even more confused than I already was.

When I saw the first rays of sunshine shine through my curtains I gave up and walked into the kitchen. On my way there I carefully avoided mirrors. I was sure that my face showed the signs of crying and my eyes would be puffy and red.

After making some coffee –I am a total addict, and without my morning coffee I could barely function- I decided to make a breakfast feast to keep myself from going crazy. I still needed to figure out a way to get my stuff that was probably still lying at Eric's, because I hadn't seen it in the house. There also wasn't a black clutch lying around in Amelia's room, so she didn't bring it with her. My blackberry was in there, texting Eric wasn't an option.

When I was busy making a fruitsalad the white card with his number came back to mind. The little white card had to be here somewhere. Well, actually I knew exactly where it was. On my dresser in my room. Now I was debating wether or not I should call him. God, even when he wasn't here to push my buttons he still managed to make me feel frustrated.

The morning hours flew by quickly, so did almost all the food in my fridge. I'm sure there would've been flour in my hair and on my face and the kitchen was a mess, but I didn't care. My attention was focused on cooking. And Eric. No scrap that, just cooking. Not Eric. Definitely not Eric.

_God, I'__m so hopeless_, I thought to myself again and again.

When the first signs of a waking Amelia were showing (a short moment of mumbled curses and shortly after a running shower. She also wasn't a morning person.) I started making pancakes with blueberries. Something Amelia and I enjoyed very often after a night of partying. She entered the kitchen after 10 minutes and headed straight for the coffeepot, mumbling a good morning, not taking in the scene around her. Only after her first sip she noticed the mess that I had managed to make in the kitchen. The expression on her face should've made me laugh, but now it just made me feel sorry for myself. Crazy Sookie at your service, please have a seat and enjoy the breakfast that I made because my thoughts combined with a lack off sleep made me go all cuckoo.

"What the fuck Sooks?" she stammered as she grabbed on of the pancakes and threw it on a plate. "You must have something bothering you. And because left yesterday without telling I assume it must've happened then? Am I getting warm here?" she took a big bite, chewed and kept talking with her mouth stuffed. Rich girl, yet no table manners.

"Alcide was worried about you." Was added after she swallowed the way too big bite of pancake. I groaned internally. She was still playing matchmaker.

"Alcide and I are friends." She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Seriously Ames. I don't want to be in a relationship and I don't feel any attraction to Alcide at all. It's just..."

I wanted to tell her about Eric so badly, but I couldn't get it out. Amelia is my best friend and we share everything, however I couldn't share this problem with her. Maybe I was afraid she would judge me, maybe it was because she might think I had feelings for him. I didn't want her to name the feelings I was trying to ignore so badly. So I lied.

"My clutch is still there. I miss my blackberry."

Lame excuse, and Amelia's brown eyes followed me suspiciously. Thankfully she had no comments. I grabbed a pancake and added some fruit salad on the side.

"Riiiight. Eric mentioned something like that to me," she started giggling, "I don't really remember, I wasn't exactly sober. You should call him and ask if you can pick it up. You still have his card lying on your dresser." She purred.

_Maybe I should do that_, I thought to myself ignoring the teasing tone in her voice. Even if it's just to show him how he didn't destroy me and he wouldn't get me down.

Amelia helped me clean up the mess I had made, and eventually shooed me to the bathroom to take a shower. The warm water felt soothing on my skin as well as soothing for my mind, and I ended up taking a shower for 20 minutes.

I threw on jeans and a tshirt taking choosing comfort for the day. While Amelia always went all-out with her outfits, I stayed a jeans and tshirt-girl. My hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and I only put on a little mascara.

Now there was only one thing to be done; call Eric.

I don't remember how long I was staring at the phone, but that Amelia grabbed the phone from my hands and pushed the call-button said enough. She did provide me with the kick in the butt I needed, but I still gave her a scowling look. Amelia just laughed and skipped out of the room.

Eric picked up after the second ring. His masculine voice that now sounded raspy vibrated over the line.

"Yes?"

I swallowed and after a long silence I managed to force a sentence out of my throat.

"Hey. It's Sookie." The fake calmness was obvious, and my greeting sounded everything but airy. It sounded as if there was a gun pointed to my head.

"Hey." There was a crackling of sheets. Yes, he was still in bed. Was he a person that slept naked? Or with just bottoms? A chuckle from Eric's side of the line interrupted my daydreaming.

"If I sleep naked or with just bottoms?" he sounded very amused. At least one of us thought it was funny that I accidently said it out loud. I just hoped there would form a huge hole in my living room floor that would swallow me whole. My face was burning from the blood that rushed to my cheeks.

"I mean.. no.. I left my clutch at your place."  
>"Yeah.. You can pick it up if you want? I'm not going anywhere today." He replied, still amused. I just wanted this conversation to end, so I said I would pop over in an hour or so. Eric approved and managed to make me blush once again before hanging up.<p>

"To answer your burning question; I sleep naked. See you in an hour Sookie."

**EPOV**

Pushing Sookie's buttons was too easy, and I enjoyed winding her up. I still felt bad though, for snapping at her. We were getting somewhere and now we were back to square one. When she said her name on the phone the events of last night replayed in my mind for the millionth time. Even though I knew I was way out off line, the anger in me overran every other emotion. The way that asshole touched her and whispered in her ear just made me feel so powerless. Sookie was not mine and if she would be it wouldn't be a walk in the park. Even though Bill had treated her like shit, I am still his friend, sort of. I hated the dick for what he did to Sookie. The worst part was that I knew what he was doing for a long time. When it was just us going out this girl Lorena would never leave his side, and before he drove home drunk they would 'head out'. Trying to act like the good friend I let him, and then I would be glad to be rid of them. They disgusted me.

Bill had always been that way, but managed to fool everyone with his Southern gentleman act. Sookie had fallen for it, eating it all up with no questions.

In the beginning I saw her as a naïve, innocent girl. Too innocent to be on the show. To me, it was suspicious and I was sure she was just like all the other girls; desperate for attention. It surprised me that she wasn't an actress or a wannabe model. However, her attitude annoyed me in the beginning. My attitude annoyed her too, that much was clear.

It didn't bother me –at first- and I kept doing what I always did. Eric Northman always got what he wanted and I have a hard time dealing with people who don't accept that. Maybe I'm cocky, but I have the right to be. Men want to be me, women want to be with me. And why would I say no to women who threw themselves at me, I didn't have any reason not to. Dating someone never appealed to me and relationships creeped me out. To me, women were nothing more than a nice way to spend my time and to keep me satisfied. Just sex. Most of them weren't even capable of making good conversation anyway and were total airheads, desperate for attention that I would supply them with for only one night. Most of the time they just wanted to be on the show. I didn't care. As long as I had what I wanted I was one happy guy. Until Sookie decided to ruin it all.

After a while you knew that she wasn't on the show for the attention or money. She genuinly didn't care about any of that. To me that was something new and refreshing. Just like Sookie herself. Her long, blond wavy hair. Her big sapphire eyes. Her radiating smile. Her smell. Her laugh. No, I'm not a sick obsessed fuck. She just haunted my dreams and thoughts. The dreams were both the best thing and pure torture. The raging morning wood wasn't the worse part, the worst was wanting what I couldn't have.

She made me so nervous every time we had a scene together and I reminded myself she was with that asshole Bill. That he had the chance to be with her and didn't even cherish it. In my struggle to push Sookie away from me I acted like a dick. My usual technique, and it appeared to work. She even got to the point where she hated me. I had accomplished my goal, but didn't feel any triumph. So I drank, went out and hooked up with girls only to push them of me as soon as we got to the good stuff. Somehow I just couldn't do it. I have been in a relationship with my left hand for two months now. All the fake breasts and fake personalities weren't doing it for me anymore, and the distance I always enjoyed so much was now getting on my nerves. I was turning into a sap.

Pam found my sexual frustration very entertaining (I can't believe I told her everything in a drunken haze) and teased me endlessly. If I had to endure one more month of her calling me 'smitten kitten' I would snap.

Since I'm such a lucky guy, the director thought it would be an amazing idea to shoot a scene at her house with me, Bill and Sookie. In which I had to act all friendly and not strangle Bill. He had left with his cheap fuck Lorena again last night, leaving Sookie completely in the dark and feeling loved by her cheating boyfriend. It was infuriating.

On the drive to her house I gritted my teeth and gripped the steering wheel, causing my knuckles to whiten. Meet Eric Northman, now on a 2 month dry spell who wanted nothing more than to fuck the girlfriend of his 'best' friend who was cheating on her. People had to know what actually went on behind all the lunches and parties and designer sunglasses. The big lines were correct, we lived our lives on tv. But there were moments where there would be a script, since some of us had a reputation to keep up or to keep very personal stuff in the dark. We also had our own agents who tried to act in our best interests, who made sure that nothing would happen behind our back. At least mine did. My reputation would be worse if it wasn't for Chow.

I parked my red corvette in the parking lot of Sookie's apartmentbuilding. The van of the crew was already there, Sookie's black Volvo xc90 not. Maybe she was out. With Bill? Asshole.

I walked up the stairs and into her apartment. She shared it with her roommate Amelia, a spunky girl with short hair. Amelia was nice, but always very excited and being subtle wasn't one of her strong points, same goes for Pam. Amelia sat in the kitchen, reading a magazine that by the looks of her face wasn't interesting. I mumbled a greeting, which was answered with a short wave but she didn't care enough to look up from her page filled with lipstickcolours. Amelia didn't really like me, probably because Sookie didn't. At least she was a true friend and it made me glad that she had someone she could rely on.

I didn't want to feel like an intruder, and because Sookie wouldn't be too happy with me walking around her house I decided to wait outside with the rest of the crew. 20 minutes passed slowly, and still no sign of Sookie. Amelia said she was lunching with Bill just as irritated as I asked her.

There was a commotion at the front door and I opened it to find Sookie trying to grab something out of her huge bag, while balancing some other stuff. It looked adorable, but before I lost my cool I stayed true to my act.

"You're late. And where the fuck is Bill?"

Her lack of a response made me feel worried, and I even followed her to apologize for my harsh tone. But then I realized she probably would even feel worse. Bill wasn't here with her, and she felt like shit anyway.

So I sat down outside, standing up again, walk to the more secluded side of the terrace and sat down again. The crew were having fun, but I wasn't in the mood for dealing with that right now. Bill fucked up, again. Sookie didn't break up with him, again. How much bullshit can she deal with before she finally kicks his ass on the street?

"You and Sookie need to do this alone. We need material. Sit down there, Sookie will be here soon." Sophie-Anne's voice broke my eyefuck with the tiles. Like a little lapdog I complied and sat down on the picked spot. The fire made this feel so cozy and romantic. Shit.

A very nervous Sookie sat down next to me, well, on the other side of the couch. It actually took her 3 minutes to finally sit down close to me. I couldn't help but smile over her stubborness.

"Am I that repulsive?" I whispered while leaning in a bit. Nobody said I can't take advantage of the opportunity. Sookie spat back a 'yes', but didn't sound so convinced of herself. It made me smug to see her inner struggle so clearly on her face. I was doing something to her and she didn't like it. Or tried not to like it.

For the whole shooting I forgot to play my little role as a total douchebag. She was so close to me, and her smell was so distracting. The blush that started around her neck and slowly crept up to her face left me wondering if maybe the blush started lower, and if I could witness that to prove my theory. Everytime her gaze met mine I locked it, and tried not to break it off. She didn't even know she had bewitched me. Body and soul. And now I just quoted Jane Austen. Damn. I don't even remember what the scene was about, much less what I had said. The way Sookie licked her lips before speaking and just everything she did made me hot and bothered and I kept willing my hard away. It was torture.

When the scene was finally complete, and we were allowed to go, Sookie practically ran to the kitchen. If it was to get away from me it wouldn't work, because without even thinking I ended up leaning against the kitchen doorframe. Sookie had pulled out some ingredients to make dinner. She moved so naturally, that was untill she noticed I had been staring at her from a distance. Again my body had it's own will, and now I was standing at the kitchen island trying to think of something to say.

"I didn't know you could cook."

_Wow. You should write Obama'__s speeches. I didn't know you could cook. Years of practice, and still you can't come up with someting better._

Stupid voice in my head. Go away.

Sookie was suddenly ranting to me about how I was forced to do this, and that I should go home. If only I was forced, and if only I could make my body listen to me and go home.

"Sophie-Anne already left. And I'm not forced to do anything. Maybe I just want to make us both feel a bit more comfortable when we have more scenes. Because we will."

That explanation was accepted with a dumbfounded "Oh."

I was also dumbfounded, because I managed to say 'we needed to be more comfortable with eachother instead of saying 'I totally think about you all the time and how amazing sex with you would be by the way you smell amazing'.

Then it all got weirder and weirder, but in a good way. We ate dinner together and even had amazing conversations. She confided in me about her family and that was something I had never expected her to do. For me the evening ended way too quickly, but Bill kept sending me texts about why he couldn't be on the set today and to make sure I wouldn't tell Sookie. In the end it bothered me so much that I just had to leave. And when saying goodbye I had hugged her without even thinking if it would be okay. We both lingered. Que the internal 12 year old to squeal in a high pitched tone. While I tried to remain calm I invited her over to the party I was throwing next saturay. She said she would call, or text me _and_ she stared at my ass while I was walking away. The stupid grin that decorated my face stayed there for the whole walk home.

For the whole week I felt giddy. Sookie had texted me that she would be there, together with Amelia and Tara. Hell, she could bring anyone. Except for a date, or Bill. But I figured she wouldn't bring him since it was all over the tabloids they broke up. Even though I was pleased to read/hear/see it, I still texted Sookie to see how she was handling things.

Pam was all in my bussiness, teasing me endlessly. She had seen the scene that Sookie and I shared, and apparently I was 'eye-fucking her like a psychopath' and 'swooning like a 12-year old watching a Justin Bieber video'.

Saturday came by quickly. And after a long shower (my shower's became longer after.. Sookie walked into my dreams) I changed into my favorite shirt and jeans and had some breakfast. Pam called to tell me she wouldn't be at my party, which made me feel better. Pam would grill Sookie with questions and let her on about my feelings. Feelings. Did I have feelings for Sookie?

People started to walk in and soon my home was filled with voices and laughter. Someone had plugged his Ipod in the dock, which made the party complete. My head kept shooting to the frontdoor everytime someone entered. Finally, after the tenth time it was the person I was expecting. Sookie looked like a dream, dressed in a red dress that made her features stand out perfectly. Did she even know how sexy she was?

I walked over to them in with my confident walk. At least I hope it looked confident. Sookie blushed when we hugged and I told her how great she looked. But every hope of this being the night I had expected was crushed when Sookie mumbled something about getting a drink, walking passed me like she wasn't just eyeing me like a fucking piece of juicy meat. Again my body totally ignored the reasoning of my brain, and I followed her into the kitchen. There was a large part in me that wanted to just grab her and give her the most mindblowing kiss she ever recieved, and yell at her to just admit she thought I was better than she thought. When I stood in front of her, my mind regained power. She wouldn't feel like she was just sweeped of her come-fuck-me heels. Sookie wasn't easy, and the mixed signal she just gave me made me rethink the possibilty of ever claiming her as my own. So I turned on the heel of my sneakers and walked outside with a fake smile on my face. This is why I did one night stands.

Being the host there also was the obligation of mingling with my guests. In the corner of my eye there always would be Sookie, talking to her friends. Our gazes met a couple of times, and there was no way to break it. Only her friends, or mine. Sookie and I were playing some twisted game without even realizing it. At last I had found a reason to go inside and peel my eyes and attention away from Sookie. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and took a couple of big gulps, feeling a little better but not a lot. So I grabbed a second one, and after downing that one as well I had done enough hiding. Sookie wasn't going to scare me away from enjoying my own party.

I was wrong. So wrong.

There she was, sitting close to a guy who I thought was named Alcide. I renamed him asshole for the moment. He was touching her arm and leaned in closer to her. The asshole whispered in her ear. Why him and not me? What does that dick have what I haven't? Before I could think of a reason her eyes met mine. The look in her eyes had an emotion that I couldn't translate, since my feet only had one gear. And that was turning around and walking away. Seeing Sookie kiss someone else wasn't going to help my mood.

Wanting to be secluded I finally found a spot that was quiet, and my body sat down on one of the stone steps. There was silence, but suddenly my peace was broken by a very familiar voice.

"Are you okay?" No Sookie, no I'm not fucking okay.

"I'm fine. Go back inside. Alcide must be missing you." It took me a lot of effort not to call him Asshole.

"You're not fine and Alcide won't be missing me. We're friends, that's all."

Right. Friends.

"Do you let all your _friends _touch you like that?"

So yeah, I was acting like a dick and my behaviour hadn't go unnoticed by Sookie. She called me one. We were back where we started, and if that was how things were supposed to go; I should burn it down to the ground. I needed to get my original life back, the one before Sookie. That life wasn't as confusing and frustrating.

"Why are you acting like a total whore?"

It didn't feel good to say it, and I didn't even mean it. But if I wanted to cut Sookie from my life, I had to. However there was an erruption of guilt in my body when Sookie let out a sob and walked passed me. If I wanted Sookie to go I should've felt some sort of triumph, but there wasn't any. Just regret.

"Sookie. Stop walking. Please." I had ran after her. Sookie was now crying and crying women weren't something I could deal with. Especially Sookie. When she didn't stop I tried to grab her arm softly, failing because Sookie wouldn't stop.

"Eric. Leave me alone."

So I did.

The next morning I was awoken by the sound of my cellphone going off. It was already pretty late, but that wasn't new for me. Normally I would've slept like a rose, but last night that wasn't the case. Instead there had been an unhealthy amount of tossing and turning. The fact Sookie now hated me played a large part, that I found _her _purse made it worse. I had to bring it, or she had to pick it up. Maybe there was some way Amelia could pick it up. Sookie already had plans, since it was her on the phone. My heart did a little jump when she greeted me with her flustered voice.

"Hey." I sat up straight in my bed, my back against the headbord.

"Are you a person that sleeps naked? Or with just bottoms?"

my first reaction was surprisement. She probably had heard the sheets shifting. My second reaction was feeling smug. She thought I was sexy, I knew it. With a grin on my face I repeated her question slowly back to her.

"I mean.. no.. I left my clutch at your place." She stuttered so adorably, and probably she was blushing right now. We arranged that she would come over in an hour, which gave me plenty of time to shower and clean up the mess the partypeople had made. Before hanging up I wanted to give her something to think about. With my –according to Pam- hotline voice I said my goodbye.

"To answer your burning question; I sleep naked. See you in an hour Sookie."

Immediately after hanging up I jumped out of bed and into the shower. No, cutting Sookie from my life wouldn't be an option.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: All mistakes are my own.  
>Enjoy the chapter. :]<br>Next stop will be the launch party. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.  
><strong>

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><p>My heart was beating in my throat when I knocked on Eric's huge front door. During the walk over here my mind was working hard at figuring out what I should say and do. A part of me was still mad at him for calling me.. that word. Another part of me wanted to jump his bones. I forced myself to go with the first idea, and still be mad at him, or at least telling him how it hurt me, and that he shouldn't ever call me that again. Sookie Stackhouse will stand her ground, and she will not let anyone speak about her that way. It wasn't even true.<p>

Eric smiled nervously at me when he opened the door, his hair was damp and strands of it fell in front of his blue eyes. He also wasn't wearing a shirt. Holy mother of... those abs. I refrained myself from running my hands over them. Letting them dip between the dells of his muscles.

"Hey," he moved aside and gestured for me to enter the house, "come in."

I mumbled a hello and entered his hallway and walked into his living area. There were no signs that there was a party here last night, everything was clean and straightened. Eric padded behind me on his bare feet.

"Did I interrupt something?" referring to the fact he was only wearing jeans. It was distracting me from hating him. I kept my tone as bussinesslike as possible, not wanting to sound affected by his lack of clothing.

"No. You didn't. I just put this on because you were coming to get your purse..."

"Clutch." I corrected. Eric rolled his eyes at me for correcting.

"Whatever. If you weren't coming over, I would walk around in the same outfit I sleep in." He threw in a mischievous grin.

Do. Not. Imagine. It. That became my personal mantra for the moment, and it was repeated over and over in my head. To bad my stupid blushing had to ruin it. Eric left the room with a low chuckle, to get my clutch/purse.

Operation 'Do not get distracted by Eric's charms' was failing. Operation 'be mad at Eric' was still running according to plan. I was still annoyed with his attitude. He had mood swings like a teenage girl, and the fact he acted like everything was fine right now made me even more irritated.

At least now I was alone I could have a good look around his house, well, the living room. The couches were huge –they needed to be since Eric is a giant- and dark grey. The darkwood floors had a huge white rug covering it. White walls lined with dark shelves, filled with dvd's and cd's, to watch on the huge tv and to listen on his expensive stereo installation. There were no pictures, not on the shelves and not hanging on the walls. While my apartment was decorated with pictures of friends and Gran, Eric's house wasn't decorated at all. Eric's home was a good mirror image of his personality, empty and blank. I don't think anyone knew the real Eric, and he just adapted his behaviour like a chameleon adapts his skin to protect himself.

My fingers were tapping a nervous rythm on my thighs. Why was it taking so long? I had stuff to do. Important stuff. Like... doing laundry and... stuff.

My head snapped up as I heard Eric's bare feet on the floor, entering the living area, walking like a model walks down the catwalk. He let his hand go through his shoulder length blond hair, removing it from his face. This would be so good to watch in slowmotion.

The only reason I noticed he had found my red clutch is because he was waving it in front of my eyes, with a big smirk on his face. My hand reached out to grab it, but Eric pulled it back.  
>"I don't want to play your childish games. Just give it to me so I can go home."<p>

Eric took a deep breath and let his hand wander through his hair again. The calm and cold Eric was now taking in deep breaths, only to let them escape as a sigh. His mouth opened up a couple of times, but closed again. Was Eric nervous? What the hell did he have to be nervous about? Even though he now resembled a lost puppy, I was still set on getting the hell out of here and whatever Eric was doing right now, it got in my way.

"Eric. I would like to have my clutch back. Now." I sighed out exasperated.

With a slow nod of his head he handed the red thing over to me. His behaviour was still fidgety, and it started to get on my nerves. This isn't how Eric usually acted, and I can handle the normal Eric. The one that was arrogant and lazy. But this Eric was something else, now he made me think of the shy nerdy boy, instead of the arrogant jock. I didn't know what to expect from him, and it scared me a little.

Our fingers brushed when handing the clutch over. Involuntarily, my breathing hitched in my throath and I let out a soft gasp. My body never had responded so strongly with such a light touch. Eric seemed even more restless now. And was staring at my hands.

_Maybe he felt it too, _I thought. But those thoughts were dismissed from my mind immediately, this wasn't why I was coming over. With that in mind, I popped up on my feet and pulled down my tshirt, that was now showing my lovehandles to the world. I called them my lovehandles, but right now I didn't love them at all, instead I wanted to make them magically disappear. Eric would be disgusted by me, since he was more into the barbie wasteline. Now I was disgusted with myself, for even caring what Eric thought and doubting my figure.

Eric was staring down at the area I had just covered up. But his eyes were showing something else than disgust. If I had to guess it would've been hunger or lust, but that was just crazy. Eric would never be attracted to someone as plain like me, and his staring just made me feel uncomfortable.

"I should go," he closed his eyes and nodded, then offered to walk me out.

_God, he is acting weird today. Probably hungover._

Eric opened the front door and held it open for me. It was still clear as day his mind wasn't where his body was. With a small smile I thanked him for watching over my clutch, at which he smiled back softly.

"Soo.. Have a nice day."

And with that I walked out of Eric's house and down the stone steps, my clutch in my left hand.

"Sookie.." I turned around with feeling a little uncomfortable, last night was still fresh in my memories and if this would go the same way.. well.. I don't think I have any more tears left in me. Thankfully, Eric didn't look upset or angry. Still nervous. There was a long pause, with both of us just staring at eachother.

"You have a nice day too." And he closed the door.

**EPOV**

Have a nice day too. I told her to have a nice day too. There went my balls. Normally, I wouldn't have backed out on situations like this. Normally, I wouldn't even _be _in situations like this. But my mind was playing out all the possible outcomes, and to be honest I dreaded some of them, so I chose to tell her to have a nice day. Which is a translation for 'I like you very much, please don't hate me'. I felt like Tenth Doctor, but at least I got to see my compagnion again. If she wasn't creeped out by me right now.

When Sookie was standing at my front door, looking amazing even in tshirt and jeans, it made me feel all warm inside. All the irritation of last night had dissappeared, because it didn't take me long to realize that Sookie just wouldn't do that. Not even to her worst enemy. A big chance that biggest enemy would be me. Plus, she actually didn't do it. It still pissed me off that Alcide had asked her out, but it pleased me that she just wanted to be friends. She can be friends with Alcide, but I want her, being friends with her won't do.

She sat down on my couch and it made her look so small. I needed a big couch, because otherwise I wouldn't be comfortable. It would be amazing to just take her on this couch. But not now. I don't think she would like me going all cavemen on her, and she probably was still mad.

She didn't snap when I teased her about little slip on the phone, and she didn't shout at me for being an asshole. So maybe, just maybe, we could still patch things up.

With high hopes I ran up my stairs to grab her _clutch_. Sometimes I don't get women with their silly names for everything. To me, it was still a purse and that wouldn't change. I walked into my bedroom and over to my nightstand. Yes, I had left her purse on my nightstand. That wasn't a completely psycho thing to do right? I mean, I didn't look in it. It just lied there during the night, making me think about how it matched that red of her perfect dress. That dress was a gift from God, just like the curves it covered.

Before my pants got a little too fit for comfort I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. Sookie was downstairs, waiting. Now was the time for me to give her my 'I'm sorry'-speech that I had been preparing in the shower, which was the reason why I only had time to throw on my jeans. My mind had drifted off a little, and that left me with less than 5 minutes to get dressed, tidy and calming down. At least she didn't mind. Her eyes were all over my body, and she only looked up because I invited her inside, my voice reeling her back to reality.

As I walked over to her sitting on the couch in the livingroom, with her purse in my hand, I caught her staring again. Just to tease her some more; I put some more swagger in my step and let my hand go through my hair. It proved effective, because she didn't even notice her purse in the beginning. I may have teased her a little again by waving the red thing in front of her face. Now she did notice it. Awkward silence followed.

_Say you're sorry. Say it. Say it._

Her hand went for her purse, but without even thinking about it I pulled it back from her.

"I don't want to play your childish games. Just give it to me so I can go home."

It took me a while to hand it over, since my mind was in overdrive. Everytime I had finally built of enough courage to spill it out, I would look down in her eyes and thought she wouldn't want me. Then the circle started all over again. I was never speechless, but now (I even had a fucking speech) I was at a loss for words.

"Eric. I would like to have my clutch back. Now."  
>Sookie obviously was getting irritated right now, and if I acted like a mute any longer she would think I was crazy. I nodded slowly, and held it out for her to take it.<p>

Our fingers touched, barely. But still it set me on fire. Sookie surprised me by letting a soft gasp escape. I couldn't help but stare at the skin I had just touched. Nobody's touch ever did that to me, and Sookie and I barely touched at all. The tension went through the roof, and it wasn't hard to see that Sookie was also affected by our touch.

Suddenly, Sookie jumped up to her feet. Her tshirt had crawled up, and showed the skin that I longed to touch. Too bad she pulled her tshirt down, and even dared to look embarrassed. She shouldn't be, her body was perfect. Her sweet southern accent broke me from my musings. I didn't tell her that, even though I should've. And if this wasn't Sookie I was dealing with I would've. But this _was _Sookie, and I had no idea what to expect from her. I had no clue how to get through her and make her like me. I just know she's attracted to me, and I'm attracted to her. That wouldn't seal the deal.

"I should go."

Instead of begging her to stay and hear me out, I nodded defeated. I did walk her out, just to see if my courage wouldn't fail me. We stood at the front door for a moment, waiting for the other to start talking.

"Soo.. Have a nice day." Sookie said, insecurity defining the fine features of her face.

And with that she walked out of my house, down the steps with her red purse in her hand. It was now, or never. In the spur of the moment I called out her name, without thinking of something to follow up my stupid call.

"You have a nice day too."

I'm a pathetic human being. And I felt to stupid I immediately closed the door, only to bang my head on it softly. What the fuck happened to the old Eric Northman? I don't even understand myself anymore. I won't let myself go down like this, this whole situation needed closure. Wasn't it Phoebe from Friends that said; I don't want me to be the reason I'm unhappy? Some shit like that. Fitting quote for this moment. My own pussy-like behaviour annoyed me. Sookie was still close, I could still do it.

With my newfound courage I had ran outside, not bothering (well, more like forgetting) to put on shoes and a shirt. I was pretty sure my neighbours wouldn't mind, so I kept running in the direction of Sookie's appartment, just wearing jeans that needed to be pulled up after a couple of steps. After running for a minute, I finally caught up with her. Her ponytail was swaying side to side just like her hips. It took another three big steps to reach her, and I placed a soft tap on her shoulder. Slowly, she turned around and eyed me with suspicon.

"I'm sorry. I really am." No reaction. So I took it to the next level.

"It was wrong of me to call you.. that. And I'm sorry for acting like a dick."  
>She was now staring at me, like a deer caught in the headlights. That expression only lasted a couple of seconds before her face became emotionless. There was a silence, filled only with the chirping of the birds and the distant noise of cars riding on the road nearby. I was on the edge of giving up and going home, until Sookie spoke up.<p>

"Ok. Thanks." She said with a flat voice, and she turned around. Walking away from me for the second time in 10 minutes. And for the third time in 24 hours. Letting me stand in the middle of the street, in nothing but jeans, my mind boggled and my pride hurt. I just apologized to her and she said 'thanks'. Just 'thanks'. What the fuck?

"No problem." I mumbled to her back. At least I had the last word in this now one-sided conversation. The funniest part is; I wasn't hurt, just shocked. I wasn't going to let her go this easily, no, this little moment just made me want her so much more. The chase that I never had to be bothered with was now driving me crazy, but in a good way. Sookie will yield to me. I will make sure of that. I also apologized and I meant every word of it, that was a rare thing when it comes to me. Progress was made, even if it were teeny tiny baby steps.

With a smile on my face I walked home, the warmth of the road burning under my feet and the wind blowing through my tousled hair. Sookie sure is a frustrating, nervous and uptight girl, but also the most beautiful, fresh and intriguing one I have ever made contact with.

Now I had something to look forward to, and that was the launch party that we had to attend. That was three days from now, which gives me enough time to figure out a plan. This isn't over.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: This chapter drove me crazy.  
>You'll be getting some action at the end. So enjoy.<br>Thanks for the reviews and alerts. :D**

* * *

><p>During the walk home I kept thinking that Eric Northman –yes,<em> that<em> Eric Northman- apologized to me, he actually apologized, and looked like he meant it. The guy did what I had never expected him to do, and my mind went blank. I had left him standing there, yet again, despite the fact that there was a perfect speech drilled into my head.

It's not like I had time to prepare for it, no, I was caught out of the blue. He came out of nowhere, tapping me on my shoulder like a shy little schoolboy trying to get the teacher's attention, and telling me that he was sorry. How does one react to that? I, for one, turned around and walked away, after telling him "Ok. Thanks". The guy that stalked my thoughts had followed me, in nothing but jeans –displaying his faint-worthy body- and apologized. Total mindfuck.  
>If he had apologized in his house, or at his front door it would've been ok, I guess, but in situations like this I was hopeless. I needed structure, I needed to know what the other was up to. Bill was predictable, even at the end because he was always drunk, so that wouldn't surprise me it was just very annoying, but Eric was like weather. Always changing, not really easy to pinpoint. Last minute changes, surprises. Yes, that was Eric in a nutshell. I thought I knew him, but suddenly he had broke out of his corner and took place in another, only to burst out of it again. It was frustrating, but surprising. A breath of fresh air, even more so than Amelia. Even Amelia had some sort of pattern. Eric had none, at least not one I had the opportunity to detect.<p>

With my mind still replaying the memory, I stuck the key in the keyhole and opened the door.

_Should I call him?  
><em>I entered my bedroom, the sheets still a mess from my restless night. The red clutch that started it all was emptied and put away in my closet. The contents still scattered around, Amelia and Tara went through it like whirlwinds and hadn't bothered with hanging or putting it back. Oh well, that wasn't new. Amelia wouldn't know that she had wooden floors, there were that many clothes covering it. My hands kept themselves busy with picking up the disapproved clothes and putting them back in my closet. They stilled when my fingers touched the fabric of the red dress I was wearing last night. With a small smile on my face I thought back how Eric looked at me when he first saw me last night, telling me that I looked good and how flustered I felt when he did so.

_Text him? Go back? Email him? _

With a sigh the red dress was put back on it's hanger, but it didn't go back in the closet. I was too fond of it now to let it hang in the darkness, no, this dress was my happy memory, and the only hope I had of fixing my stupid mistake. Perhaps I should wear it to the launch party. The other dresses in my closet were nothing compared to this one, and this would give a message to Eric. A very subtle one, but I had no doubt he would understand. A silent apology and hint combined into a fitted, cherry-red, smooth dress. Perfect.

Amelia stumbled into the appartment together with Tara. Both had at least four bags, all covered with the same expensive brand logos. They had gone shopping today, for tonight. They had asked me to join them, but I declined. My day was spend relaxing in the sun outside, reading a book I had wanted to read for a while and some baking. Amelia immediately ran into the kitchen after sniffing in the sweet smells, and came back with a couple of cookies stacked in her hand. Tara followed, and both were now nibbling on them, praising me for making them. It was my grandmother's recept, and it pleased me very much that everybody liked them.

This night was the launch party, the night we all looked forward to, all be it for different reasons. Amelia will be seeing Tray again, Tara will be having a great time to attend the party she helped organize, and I will be seeing Eric. The thought alone made me giddy and warm inside. Amelia kept giving me sideglances, noticing my schoolgirl state.

"Sooks. Tara. Cab." Amelia shouted from the front door while she patted down non-existant crinkles in her darkblue dress. It was another typical Amelia dress, with peacock feathers on the shoulders and at the hem of her dress. Of the three of us, she sure was popping out when it came to originality. Tara wore a black dress, a very stylish one, and I was feeling very confident in my red dress. Amelia had groaned when I mentioned that I would wear it again, and if I hadn't stopped her she would've had a closet-raid again. Thankfully, she did stop with pushing me to wear a different dress. Amelia was pushy, but knew when she was walking on thin ice. There was a little tension afterwards, but we were both too excited to even let it bother us.

Tara had styled my hair and did my make-up, and she once again did an amazing job. She sure was an artist when it came to cosmetics and beauty products and when she was finished there was a whole new Sookie. It made me even more excited than I already was, which was a good thing, because I needed all the distraction I could get to not think about all the press that would be hording the entrance. All those photographers would shoot away, and if you were lucky, they would all be praising you the next day. If you weren't.. let's say your confidence would receive a very hard blow.

Not speaking from my own experience, thank God, but I knew the tabloids all too well, and the people in it. It's a cruel world, but you just needed to deal with it.

The cab –Amelia called it a cab, it actually was an expensive car with chaffeur- slowed down, papparazzi huddling around it. The flashing lights of their camera's were making me dizzy at first, but my eyes got used to it after a while. Amelia was bouncing on her seat with a big grin spread on her face, ready to jump out of the car and start having fun. Her enthusiasm rubbed off on me, and the few nerves I had dissappeared, making me exit the car with a smile. We had made a deal that we would let the photographers only take pictures of the three of us, so we stuck close to eachother till we stepped inside.

"Wow. Tara you did an amazing job!" I said in awe. The club had gone through a whole transformation. There were silver trees standing everywhere, draped with sheer silk and the high ceiling decorated with tiny flickering lights. The club resembled a fairytale garden, to go along with the theme of the perfume that was being launched.

"Thanks. I really busted my ass trying to get it all right. Some of those girls I have to deal with are just plain lazy." Tara rolled her eyes, but straightened herself right after.

"I have to go. Work is calling, I'll see you later." And she was off, weaving through the crowd like it was nothing. When I wanted to turn to talk to Amelia, I noticed she had already ran over to Tray, and they were now eating eachother's faces. At least they enjoyed themselves.

With a sigh I walked to the bar and ordered my usual gin and tonic. There, I was greeted with a familiar voice.

"You haven't brought your purse here with you this time?"  
>Even if he hadn't said anything, I would've noticed his presence. Eric had this scent around him, musky and manly, and it was just <em>Eric. <em>Slowly, I turned around to face him. He was standing very close, and my neck got quite the stretch from trying to look him in the eyes. The best part was, I got the chance to take him in. Eric was wearing a gray fitted shirt, it had to be tailored, because the thing hugged his muscles. Just like his black dresspants, that hugged other parts of his body. There was something different; something very different.

"You cut your hair?"

Eric smiled and let his hand run through his now short hair.

"Yeah. I wanted something different, so I made it happen."

"Well.. You look good."

Eric gave me another smile, an even bigger one, making my knees go weak.

"Eric." I started, he nodded for me to continue after a short pause. He was now standing even closer to me, our bodies almost pressed against eachother.

"I'm sorry." Eric eyes were sparkling when the sentence left my mouth.

"Thanks." He said, using my own words against me. It made me want to crawl in a dark corner, this was too embarrassing. I told him that I had to go to use the bathroom, but Eric wouldn't have it and grabbed my hand. This time I didn't pull away, I just thought about how my small hand was swallowed by his and how soft his skin was. Our gazes connected again, and my breathing hitched. Eric had an intense stare, and it left me breathless.

"Can we talk? I need to tell you something."

I nodded, and Eric directed me to a booth in the corner of the club. There weren't many people around, most were dancing on the dancefloor, or hanging close around the bar. The party was in full-swing, Tara must feel so good right now. She had worked so hard, and it payed off. People had fun, that much you could tell.

Eric and I sat in a comfortable silence, giving sneaky glances to eachother. I had finished my gin-tonic already, and had ordered a new one, trying to get some liquid courage in me. Eric looked very serious, and it made me feel uneasy.

"So.. what did you want to talk about?" I sais, breaking the silence.

"Sookie.." Eric started, saying my name like it was a caress. He took in another breath, and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by people shouting and the sounds of a scuffle.

We both turned around to see what was happening. It was Bill, drunk and aggressive, ready to smack one of the security-guys in the face. Pointing in my direction, screaming that he missed me and wanted me back. That I was a bitch and he hated me for leaving him.  
>To say my party mood was gone, is an understatement. I felt embarrassed, and I buried my face in my hands. There suddenly were two arms, that wrapped themselves around my shoulders. It was Eric, and he now was guiding me through the club, and exiting it through an emergency exit. The cold air felt great, and I took a deep breath.<p>

"You don't have to stay with me... I'll be fine. I don't want to ruin your night." I didn't want Eric to feel like he had to put up with me.

"I want to stay with you and you're only making my night better." He said, while smoldering me with his eyes. I hadn't even noticed he moved towards me untill he was in front of me.

"Why?"

He didn't answer. Instead Eric kissed me, and how. It was raw, feverish and passionate. Eric backed me up against the brick wall.

His tongue ran over my bottom lip, asking for permission that I immediately gave him. My hands found their place at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer to me.

"I wanted to do this for so fucking long." he growled as he moved to my neck, nibbling and sucking on the right spot. He pulled away. We were both breathing heavely, trying to catch our breath.

"You drive me crazy." And his mouth was attacking mine again.

Our bodies were now mashed together, which made a certain part of him very happy. His hands were roaming my body, grazing the sides of my breasts. A soft moan escapes my lips, and it made me want so much more. Any rational thoughts that I might have had, left my brain. My hands moved over his back, only to end up on his perfect ass, groping it. Eric's hips bucked a little, causing friction that made us both moan into eachother's mouth.

After a while of making out like teenagers under the breachers, I realized where we were; behind a club surrounded by photographers.

"We can't do this." I said between kisses. Eric pulled away, looking like a kicked puppy. Except with swollen red lips and messy hair.

"Not like that. I've wanted to do _this_" my hand moved between us, "for way too long. But there are photographers around here. What if they'll see us? You're Bill's best friend in their eyes. It'll ruin you."

Eric nodded, and grabbed my hand to pull me with him.

"Where are we going?"

"Your place, or mine." He said with a husky tone in his voice. This will be a very interesting night.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: A short one, but I think most of you will enjoy it. *winkwink*  
>All mistakes are mine, unlike the characters. <strong>

Now was the time I was wishing I could simply pop to another location –my place, to be exact. My frustration that had been building in me for months, was now so close to a release. Sookie sat next to me in my car, her cheeks red and her hair messy from my roaming hands, biting her bottom lip. Did she want me to crash the car? If she did desire to do so, she had to keep this up. My body was itching to launch itself at her, claiming her as mine in every position I knew. My hands were gripping the steering wheel, in a desperate attempt to keep them to myself. It worked. Damn.

Sookie pulling away from our kiss, was in the end a smart thing to do. I hadn't been able to see it for a couple of seconds, but her reasoning made sense. Papparazzi often snooped around, trying to get in through a back door or emergency exit and considering we were dry-humping eachother crazy next to one, we had to stop before things could go wrong. I would've probably ended up taking her right there against the wall, I was aching _that _badly to just have her. But the good thing was; I had. She was in my car, and soon in my apartment, after that in my bed. That is if things would go as planned. But I wasn't going to let anything stop me. I gave Sookie a glance. Her head quickly directed itself to watch out the window, like she wasn't staring at me a second ago and her trademark blush krept over her chest. Too bad it wasn't the same colour of her dress, but it still made me smirk to know I affected her this much.

"You should watch the road." She teased, knowing I now was the one observing her. Still, she had a point, so I directed my eyes back on the road. Sookie giggled, and shifted, unbuckling her seatbelt as she did. My eyebrow arched in suspicion.

"What are you doing?"

Sookie giggled again, and placed her hand on my knee, letting it slowly travel up my jeanclad thigh. I gripped the steering wheel even tighter, causing my knuckles to whiten. When she let her hand run over my now very hard erection my hips jerked up.

"Shit. Sookie if you don't stop now," I had to stop and regain my composure, her lips had found my neck and were now placing wet kisses along my jawline, "if you don't stop now, I won't be able to make it to my place and I'll have to take you right here in my car."

I hated that my voice sounded strained, and powerless. Sookie did listen, and blushed again when she sat back in her seat.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me." She stammered, like she had something to be ashamed off. She really had no clue that she drove me to the line where I would lose my mind.

"Hey," I grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it, "don't be shy. I just don't want us to do this in a car. You deserve better. Plus, I don't want to be like a thirteen year-old boy and come in my pants."

She looked a little taken back by my honesty, but a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Her thumb carressed my hand, a small gesture, a gesture I used to hate. This level of intimacy was new to me, and we had barely been intimate. That's just to show how little I know about relationships, and dating for that matter. But I wanted to do this; for Sookie. The whole 'being in a relationship' didn't scare me at all, the thing that scared me was I wouldn't be enough. That I would be a terrible boyfriend, and a dissappointment.

No time to worry about that now. I drove into the neighbourhood, the tension in the car growing thicker and thicker, to finally enter my driveway.

Sookie was almost quicker to exit the car than I was, and together we walked in high speed to the front door. You should try to shove a key into a keyhole, while at the same time kissing someone who was pressed up against the door. It proved to be more difficult than I thought. We stumbled into the hall, a mess of tangled limbs and gasping breaths.

"Bedroom." Sookie whispered against my lips. That could be arranged.

With her arms still around my neck, her legs locked around my waist and her mouth busy nibbling on my neck I managed not to trip on the stairs and make it to the bedroom without breaking any bones. Now it was time to turn the tables, Sookie had been driving me crazy all night and now it was time for payback.

She let out a shriek when I tossed her on the bed and without giving her time I jumped on her, my hands resting next to her head, my body hovering over her.

"You have no idea how much I've thought about this." I mumbled against the soft skin of her neck, biting down softly. Sookie's moan went straight to my crotch.

"There's no need for that anymore. I'm here now." Her tone was playful, but I took the statement seriously. I seazed the attack on her neck and locked her eyes with mine.

"Yes you are."

We stared at eachother for a little longer. Never in my life had I experienced such intense eyecontact. My eyes drifted down, taking in every inch of her face and neck. My mouth followed eagerly. My hands worked on the zipper of her dress, pulling it down and uncovering the lace bra that was underneath. That bra was the next thing to go, and my mouth took it's time to pay my new best friends all the attention they needed. Sookie pulled my head up, kissing me. Then her hands bussied themselves with unbuttoning my shirt. I pulled it off, and started working on the button of my pants.

It didn't take long before we were both just in our underpants, Sookie's body locked under mine with our hips moving together, driven by an insane need to claim eachother. I glanced at her while my mouth made it's way down south, kissing and licking every part of skin within it's reach. Sookie's eyes followed my movements, a shade of lust within them.

"God Eric, just do it." She groaned when I lingered laying kisses on the inside of her thighs. It felt good that now I was the one driving her insane. I hooked my fingers around the edge of her underwear, and was about to pull it down, but our bubble popped. And how.

Sookie's mobile phone went off, blasting Vampire Weekend's Cousins through the bedroom. Whatever mood we had created, vaporated into the air. Sookie groaned and cursed softly, which made me chuckle, she had the mouth of a sailor. With a sigh I moved to the edge of my bed, letting my elbows rest on my knees. Sookie had covered herself with my shirt, a thing she had to make a habit off.

"Hey Amelia." Hello cockblock.

"No I'm fine." She nodded a couple of times. "No. It's okay. I'll meet you at the appartment ok? Right. See you later."

The conversation ended there. Sookie immediately grabbed her clothes and pulled them on, which wasn't the plan.

"She's having a tough time... I can't stay." Her eyes were directed at the floor, evading my pleading eyes. "And.. maybe we shouldn't do this. We weren't thinking, at least I wasn't. Nothing good can come from this. Let's pretend this never happened. Goodnight."

That statement felt like a bucket of ice cold water, thrown over me. And then 5 more. We were on the verge of 'being intimate', got cockblocked and now she was backing out. Sookie has to be playing some kind of sick game. I admitted that I liked her, and for a very long time, and it looked to me she felt the same way. Clearly that's not the case.

The frontdoor slamming shut was the sound that pulled me from my shocked state. Sookie has left the building, and this time I wouldn't be running after her. Pretending the last hour hadn't happened might the the best thing we could do. She did have a point, nothing good can come from this. It still sucked though. Sookie had been on my bed, we had kissed and dry humped like teenagers. The sheets smelled of her, and so would my shirt. I wanted to wash it right away, because Sookie wasn't allowed in my thoughts anymore, how hard it would be. After searching my whole room, without succes, it dawned on me. Sookie took my shirt with her. Telling me that we couldn't be, but taking my shirt as a token or whatever. Things weren't over, we just had to take it slow. Sookie _will _yield to me, sooner or later.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Here's another chappy. Sorry for the wait; real life can be a demanding little *blank* sometimes.  
>Enjooooy. :]<strong>

I can't believe I just did that. The whole situation was wrong, and we shouldn't have let it come this far. It took me more effort than I want to admit to leave his bedroom, and in my stupid Eric induced high I took his shirt with me. He smelled so good, and made me feel comfortable and safe. Which was stupid, because Eric and I were nothing. And we couldn't be. No.

Amelia was the wake-up call (ironic right?) that I needed. She saved me from doing something wrong and stupid –slurring out her words while crying and sobbing in the speaker- and saved me the problems I didn't need or want.

The best friend of your ex is always off limits. Getting caught being with the best friend of your ex for the whole nation to see, not to mention the other countries airing the show and the media, would cause a total frenzy. My privacy was already limited, and I didn't want it to stop excisting. Eric also had quite the reputation, and that still ticked me off. He did admit to liking me, and said he wanted to do what we just did minutes ago for a long time, but how much can one trust him? There was a sincere tone in his voice, and the actions only proved them, but Eric is a character on a real life show; he knows how to play people. It's not my goal to become another notch on his bedpost, and after the drama with Bill I wasn't looking forward to get hurt again.

When I said that we would 'forget it even happened' it felt like the right thing to say at that time, but as I was walking home it dawned on me that forgetting wasn't an option. My skin was still burning from his kisses and touches. Eric had set me on fire with the simplest of touches, while Bill would only have a tiny spark. Eric's kisses were amazing and I lost myself in them. He could make all rational thoughts disappear from my mind by just looking at me. We almost had sex. We would've had sex, if it weren't for Amelia. Did I want it to happen? Yes. Was it smart to let it happen? No, because the chance of dealing with the repercusions was too big.

The next morning I woke up in Amelia's bed. She and Tray had a fight, and it turned out that Amelia did care enough for him to feel hurt, and get really drunk and have an emotional breakdown. After crying on my shoulder for a while she passed out, her makeup smeared all over her face and the dress she was wearing wrinkled. She was still sound asleep, so I carefully slipped out from under the covers and walked into the kitchen, turning on the coffeemaker. My blackberry was lying on the countertop, indicating that I had a message. Turns out that one message were 5, and as I picked it up there was another one coming in. Nobody should have that many messages at 11 in the morning. Weary, but curious, I opened the first one and read it through. When I had finished reading it I wanted to throw my blackberry out of the window. The voicemails Sophie-Anne had left also weren't sunshine and rainbows. Since he was also in this situation I called Eric. He picked up after the second ring, groggy, but still with an ever so sexy voice.

"Miss me already?" I rolled my eyes. He didn't agree with me on the 'we can't do this' part, that much was clear from the tone in his voice. "You can keep the shirt by the way, but you have to promise to wear it for me sometime soon."  
>Ten seconds in converation, and I was already bright red. Mentally I braced myself to telling him, the news clearly hadn't reached him, or he was very pleased with it, but I knew that wasn't the case. Eric also had boundaries when it comes to privacy.<p>

"We have a problem." Eric told me to explain, and immediately my mouth went running.

"There are pictures. Of us, together. Behind the club and us getting in the same car. We're not kissing, so it's not clear what we did, but they're suspecting something."

Eric sighed exasperated, cursing the media and muttering in a foreign language I didn't recognize. I scrolled down on the site that had the pictures -before calling Eric I had turned on my laptop- and observate the damage. The pictures weren't bad, it was just me and Eric, talking and getting in the same car, no pictures of us kissing or touching eachother. I was ready to dissmiss the photos and continue the day with a feeling that I had dodged the bullet. The feeling of relief disappeared when I saw _those _pictures. I gasped into the phone. This was one of those times you wanted to fall into a huge hole, and never come out of that black nothingess again. It was that bad.

"Sookie? What's wrong?" Eric's stern voice brought me back to reality. I wanted to speak, but my mouth was dry and my eyes were glued to the pictures on the screen. Eric wasn't pleased with my silence.

"That's it. I'm coming over. I'll be at your place in 10 minutes, don't worry Sookie." Eric said and hung up. That he sounded like he cared didn't escape me, but the fact there would be papparazzi lined up in my street, not to mention his, and he was now coming to my appartment wouldn't help killing this gossip. The gossip that was true, and confirmed by the pictures now flying around the internet. Oh God, what would Jason think when he sees them, or Gran. She would be so dissapointed in me. Jason on the other hand would want to kill Eric, like he always did when a guy showed only the slightest of interest in me. Boys at my school were scared of him, and very few of them had the balls to pursue me.

There was a loud knock on the door, followed by more. It was Eric, looking flushed and confused. His eyes were in puppy-mode, his now short blond hair tussled. The outfit he was wearing was clearly put on in seconds, a sweater and jeans, paired with black flipflops. It would be adorable, if it wasn't linked to the situation we were in now. Without any greeting, he pulled me in for a hug, pressing me against his body, calming me down with just his touch. Every doubt I had about Eric was gone in that moment, it felt so right. He came here, to support me and comfort me, without me asking. That was something Bill never did, and Bill told me he loved me. Eric hadn't, he liked me, and yet he was showing me his feelings in a way Bill was oblivious to. Maybe Eric was what I needed right now, what I wanted. We stood like that for a while, his face nuzzled in my bedhair, my faced pressed against his pecks. Now it was his phone that ruined our moment.

He cursed under his breath and picked up.

"Hey Pam."

The conversation was held in the language that he used on the phone with me, and there wasn't anything I could pick up. His body language said enough. His hand went through his hand over and over again, and the adorable confusion was now replaced with a blank stare. The conversation didn't last long, and before meeting my eyes again he added another 'fuck'. Eric had sweared more in the past minutes than me in a whole year. No, he wasn't happy.

"That explains the media..." he mentioned with a grimace. "You've already seen the pictures, I haven't. Can I see them now? Fucking pigs with their fucking cameras."

I led him to the kitchen, and he sat down on one of the barstools. His big hands made scrolling down the page hard, and my laptop looked so tiny when Eric was using it.

"Do you want coffee? I just made some." Eric nodded and thanked as he took the cup from my hands. Again our fingers brushed, again we shared a look. The tension in the room shot up again. I was leaning against the granite counter, observing Eric's movements and features. The amount of concentration he had in this moment baffled me. His eyes were fixed on the screen and he barely moved at all.

"How can they even do this? I can't believe this shit."

I walked over to stand behind him, and placed my hands on his shoulders. His body tensed up for a moment, but relaxed afterwards. We were both looking at the pictures. Me and Eric, in his bedroom, on his bed, in our underwear, in very compromising positions. There was no doubt that this was us, the quality was that good. The text that explained the photos was bullshit; I wanted to get back at Bill by sleeping with his best friend. Eric wanted to hurt Bill because Bill was seen having dinner with one of his 'ex-girlfriends'. Apparently, I was emotionally in a bad place, according to Bill who had the guts to comment on the story, and had been bugging him for a while now trying to get back together with him. Bill was 'astonished that his best friend took advantage of someone so dear to him'. That asshole.

Eric had tensed up again after reading the story, his fists were clenched together so hard his knuckles were white as snow.

"That asshole. That fucking asshole."

"Tell me about it," I rubbed up and down his upper arms trying to calm him down. It helped, and he softly leaned back again my body.

"What the hell are we going to do?" I whispered. In response Eric turned around and pulled me on his lap, my body let him. The touches we shared felt familiar and comfortable, and we both became more relaxed. I let my head rest on his shoulder, while his fingers drew patterns on my arm. This whole thing felt right, and yet it was so wrong.

"Go out with me." It wasn't a question, and his tone was serious.

"What?"

"Let me take you out. I was serious when I said I liked you, and this whole situation is shit, but I want to make it work. You and me." A small smile crept on my face. He wasn't letting it go, but maybe that was a good thing.

"You just don't give up, do you?"

"No." He deadpanned.

"I'm tired of fighting you.." I sighed out.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Another chappy-chap.  
>Thanks for all the reviews and alerts! Each and every one of them makes me smile.<br>There will be angst, but rest assured; they will be happy in the end. **

**EPOV**

To say I was pissed was putting it lightly. I was outraged and saw red when looking at the photos. Some people had no dignity at all, and would invade peoples lives for money. The guy who got the perfect shots would be laughing his ass off, while counting the cash he was paid by trashy magazines. He probably had multiple offers to choose from. The whole situation made me sick. Sookie and I had an intimate moment, and now it was twisted into this bullshit story. The things Bill had said about me to the media didn't bother me –I knew it wasn't true, and being the 'badboy' put me in a bad light so I was used to it- but it was different for Sookie. She never had to deal with any of this, she was the perfect example of Southern charms and a role model for many girls. Now, she's claimed to be a backstabbing bitch who stalks her ex-boyfriend. The press loved it, and didn't want to miss a second of this lovely drama. The press lined up in front of my house was already an indication of the severeness of the problem, the press in front of Sookie's house was even worse. It was a good thing I went by car, because walking passed them wasn't going to be easy. They were tapping on my windows, blinding me with their flashes and asking questions about Sookie's mental problems. Assholes. If I wasn't trapped in my own car, I would've gone Viking on their asses.

The damage they had made was taking a toll on Sookie, I saw it when she opened her front door. The glow that she possessed had fade away, and left a wreck behind. No smile, no twinkle in her eyes. Without thinking I pulled her against me, hoping it would make her feel better, or make me feel better. Her tiny frame spread warmth and comfort, she was the familiarity of walking into your home after a long day at work and sit back on the couch embodied. My little world of serenity was stomped on by Pam, who decided this would be the perfect moment to call.

"What the actual fuck Northman," she started, "is it that hard to keep your dick in your pants?"

There were no clear signs of rage, thank God. Pam could rip you apart like nobody's bussiness, something I had witnessed a couple of times too many, and had suffered on a rare occassion. However, she didn't sound happy either, and the reason she would be calling probably had to do with the papparazzi lined up outside Sookie's and my home.

"What the fuck... why are you even calling me to say that? If this is about the pictures that are floating around; they've got nothing. So what the fuck is going on?" apparently, everybody except for me knew what was happening right now, and that pissed me off even more. Wasn't I the main focus of this drama?

"Maybe you should check your voicemails every once in a while," I rolled my eyes and ushered her to continue. Pam snickered at my frustration, she liked to wind me up. She did an amazing job at this moment.

"Right. Can you ask Sookie where she got that bra she was wearing last night? I would love to have one just like it."

It took me a while to figure out what she was getting at, but when it did; the realisation hit in like a fucking bomb. Pam wasn't there last night, it was just me and Sookie, so how could she know what Sookie was wearing, before I ripped it of her body. After asking her she confirmed it were pictures, lots of them.

I needed to see them. I needed to see what they could do to Sookie. The conversation was put to an end, stuffing my phone back into my pocket, breathing out an eloquent fuck.

"That explains the media... You've already seen the pictures, I haven't. Can I see them now? Fucking pigs with their fucking cameras."

Sookie nodded and walked me to her kitchen. The smell of coffee filled my nostrils, the whole atmosphere in the house felt so.. homey. Every room radiated comfort and warmth, something my house lacked.

I sat down at the kitchen island, bracing myself for the content on the site. While scrolling down the page Sookie offered me a cup of coffee, I accepted. Our fingers brushed while she handed me the warm mug, our eyes locked. Even when she just got out of bed, she was still beautiful. Not wanting to drool on her laptop, I looked away and directed my attentions to the pictures on her tiny screen.

"How can they even do this? I can't believe this shit."

I really couldn't believe it. I wanted to break all their cameras and stuff them down all their throats. This was sick, invading people's bedrooms and taking pictures of intimate moments. And man, the moments they captured were definitely intimate. No wonder they caused such a big mess.  
>My body stiffened when her hands touched my shoulders. Not because I didn't want her too, but because I didn't think <em>she <em>wanted it. She had walked out on me last night, claiming this was wrong and couldn't end well. Ironicaly, she couldn't have been more right.

We both read the text that came with the photo's, _explaining _what had happened. It was all bullshit, and that fucking Bill Compton had used it in _his _advantage. Sookie's image was ruined, instead of sweet Southern Belle, she now would be seen as a psychotic stalker.  
>I was so blinded by rage I hadn't even felt her hands rubbing up and down my arms, but when I did feel the warmth they left behind, all rage evaporated in thin air. My body instinctively leaned back, against her tiny frame.<br>"What the hell are we going to do?" she whispered, almost too soft to hear. She sounded.. defeated and scared. And I wasn't going to let her go down this easily. The people outside, who knew nothing of her except for what the show wanted to show them, were having too much of an influence on her. They made her feel like she lost the control of her own life, I could know, because that was the feeling I had when this first happened to me.

My arms pulled her on my lap, creating a safe space. Her body relaxed, as did mine.

"Go out with me."

Stupid brainfilter. Why must you fail me now? She won't be jumping with excitement at dating the guy she was photographed with in her underwear.

"What?" she sounded surprised, instead of my expected irritation.

"Let me take you out. I was serious when I said I liked you, and this whole situation is shit, but I want to make it work. You and me."

"You just don't give up, do you?" she replied, a small smile evident in her voice. My comeback was a simple "no". With a loud sigh she claimed to be tired of fighting me. _Finally, _I thought. There is only that much chasing a guy can do, and I was already so pussy whipped that I had started to seriously doubt my manhood. The funny thing; Sookie was oblivious, and it wasn't even on purpose. She was _that _innocent. I wanted her to be mine, because she already owned me.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah."

My body stayed in it's spot, holding Sookie and tracing her skin with my fingers. Inside, I was jumping around and cheering like a 13-year old. I would _so _be doing a victory dance as soon as I stepped into my home, and was alone. Nobody needed to see _that_.

"You asshole!"

Sookie and I both jumped up, looking in the direction where the shouting was coming from. Amelia stood in the doorway, despite her ridiculous bedhair and wrinkled clothes still looking very dangerous. Sookie scrambled off my lap, straightening her clothes, that had krept up dangerously high, showing her amazing legs. Do. Not. Look.

Having a hard-on while getting yelled at by the best friend of the girl that caused it wasn't good, and I picked my mind from the gutter.

"Amelia," Sookie chided, "can we talk for a minute? In private."

I was awarded another deathglare from the girl with her pixiehaircut, and an apologetic smile from Sookie. The girls left the kitchen, and there was a short silence. I didn't want to eavesdrop, but they spoke with loud voices, and I couldn't help picking up scraps of their conversation.

"He has been nothing but an asshole to you." Coming from Amelia.

"You don't know him." Sookie backfired, sounding offended. My heart leaped at the fact she was defending me.

"Do you?" Silence. Well shit, this isn't going smooth. The discussion continued, but not loud enough for me to pick up anything. Amelia was the first one to speak loudly again, to my relief.  
>"Can you trust him? With these pictures floating around now. You went home with him, and suddenly you two are all over the internet and in every magazine. That's just too much of a coincidence. Bill's his friend, they can be working together. You know how much Bill liked the attention, Eric probably does too." She did have a point, it was fucking weird. I had nothing to do with it, but it wouldn't surprise me that people would think that I had. I couldn't help but feel offended, and irritated that Amelia brought this up to Sookie.<p>

"Sook. I'm just trying to help you."

"I know you are.. Maybe a vacation is a good idea, I can stay with Gran and wait for this to all blow over."

Wait for all this to blow over... meaning that she wouldn't fight this with me at her side. That last sentence was a punch in the guts, and I've never felt more rejected. I wanted to make it work, I told her I did, and she agreed. We would make it work. She agreed that we would make it work. Right?

Amelia and Sookie returned. Amelia went straight for the coffee, huffed at me and left the kitchen. Sookie kept her distance, and refused to meet my gaze.

"What did you mean by waiting for all this to blow over?" I said, my voice colder than I had wanted. I saw Sookie flinch from the corner of my eyes.

"Amelia said it would be the best. Take a break from this whole city, and relax," she paused, "these photo's won't haunt me there, like they do here."

I let my hand wander through my hair, tugging the knots. I wanted to shout, forcing her to stay here, make her keep the promise she made, to make her think for herself. But I couldn't. Something in me said 'enough'. And with no more fight left in me I listened to it.

I stood up and walked away from her, ignoring her scent that pulled me to her and the hurt that plastered her face. My heart told me to hold her tight, but my mind had other plans. Amelia was right; I was an asshole and I didn't deserve her. One night with me, and she was ruined.

My hand was resting on the doorknob of her frontdoor. She had followed me.

"I wish you the best, Sookie Stackhouse." I said against the door, because turning around and facing her was something I couldn't cope with. She would be fine without me.

**AN: Poor Eric. So much feelings.  
>I'm going to enjoy the sunny weather now while it lasts. You'll never know in Holland.<br>Just 2 days ago it was pouring with rain.  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: The response this story gets makes me sooo happy. ****People have very different views on the decisions the characters made in the last chapter. I love it.  
>Things are looking up again in this chapter. Enjoy.<strong>

**SPOV**

Here I was, standing on the porch of my childhood home, feeling anxious to see my Gran again. The woman who had raised me and my brother Jason. Who was proud of me for being so responsible and making the right decisions. Now I was supposed to walk inside, greet her and tell her 'your sweet little Sookie is all over the internet in her underwear while dry-humping her ex's best friend'. I sighed, gathered all the courage I had and opened the door.

"Gran. I'm home!" I yelled, and within seconds my Gran walked into the room. Her smile was as bright as it ever was, and with the energy of a 20-year old she pulled me in for a big hug. Naturally, my arms wrapped themselves around her.

"I've missed you so much." I sighed out. I didn't even know I had missed this little town and it's inhabitants so much while being in LA, but on the plane I became more and more anxious to see everyone again. Being in my Gran's arms again, surrounded by the cozy atmosphere of the outdated house let that realization wash over me in one big tidal wave.

"I've missed you too," her wrinkled hands patted my back, "now let's get you all settled in and we can talk about your celebrity life at dinner."

After a shower, change of clothes and unpacking Gran and I sat around our kitchentable. There was enough food to feed an entire army and everything looked delicious. Leave it up to Gran for letting my curves remain present. We scooped our plates full, and dug in. My Gran's cooking was something I definitely had missed, and even though she gave me her recipes, my copies missed her magic touch. The conversation flowed easily, and at the end of dinner Gran updated me on the town gossip. Apperantly, Arlene –a former colleague- was now engaged to who was soon to be husband number four.

I groaned and sunk in my chair.

"I feel like I'm going to explode. Thanks for cooking, it was delicious!"

My Gran smiled and poured me another glass of iced tea, eyeing me with a glint in her eyes. I shifted in my seat, knowing that she would bring up a subject I would gladly avoid.

"That Eric is a handsome young man."

A spray of iced tea escaped my mouth. My Gran laughed and continued her story.

"And his body is amazing."

"Gran!" I shreeked, hoping it would silence her.

"If I were any younger..."

"Gran. Please don't ," I begged, "it was so stupid. Please stop."

She took pity in me, and stopped with the teasing. My Gran had kept her sassy personality, and it hadn't faded one bit over the years. We often fawned over attractive characters on shows, sometimes she even more than me. Next to being the one who raised me, she was also one of my best friends. However, this was a different situation; Eric being the guy I was caught red handed with. In my underwear. While eating eachother's faces and dry humping in a way only teenagers could.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked her, feeling unsure of myself. Dissappointing Gran had never been on the top of my list, and I did everything in my power to avoid it. Her hand covered mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Ofcourse not. You're young, you're supposed to have fun and let go. You just have the whole world watching while you're doing it. There was no way you could foresee all this. It just makes me happy that you broke up with that Bill." The last part was added with a disgusted face and a wave of her hand. Gran never warmed up to Bill, which had to be my first clue. Gran had a sick way of knowing people's personality after a single look. She had seen right through Bill's fake charms, but I fell for them like a 4 year-old fell for a magic trick that involved a rabbit and a top hat. Stupid.

Her little speech made me feel better, Gran being the only one whose judgement _really _mattered to me. She had raised me after all, on her own, and I didn't want to let her have the feeling she had failed.

"You haven't failed me Sookie. Actually, I'm jealous you get to have that piece of hunk all for yourself."

One, could she read my freaking mind? And second, too much information. I took this opportunity –how embarassing it was- to clear the air around the subject.

"I don't really have him. We're not together..."

Gran raised her eyebrows, but didn't respond to my statement. We started cleaning up the kitchen, washing the dishes. The whole time she asked me about Eric, and I answered her with the knowledge I had. Talking about him was harder than expected, and it brought back the memories of his smell, touch and even the feel of his presence in the room. I kept my sad thoughts away from gran, and tried to remain happy Sookie for the rest of the evening. We watched an old movie together, both wrapped in ugly afghans we both hated but never got rid off and as the end credits appeared on the screen Gran and I both went to our beds.

Even though I was exhausted, sleep didn't come easily. It has been two days since Eric wished me the best, and walked out of my apartment, but he stayed put in my thoughts. It was torture.

If Amelia only slept in a little later, Eric and I would've been fine. I was assured of that. But she did have a point, was Eric someone I could trust? I knew he had nothing to do with those pictures, because no one could fake a reaction like that. Why didn't I say that to Amelia? The past two days had consisted of mental facepalms and thinking 'what if..'. I had listened to Amelia because she was my friend, and friend listen to their friends when they try to help you. Amelia did want what was best for me, and I knew this would be best for me too. I could have a challenge, but this was more than I could handle, and Eric hadn't proved himself the most reliable person considering his past. On paper, this was the right decision, going to Bon Temps and have some time to relax. So why did I feel that Eric took my heart with him when he left my home that day and the feeling from making the right decision was non-existant?

Amelia was adamant, and booked my ticket immediately after Eric had left. Before I knew it, I found myself on the plane, and after that, driving in the direction of Bon Temps.

I was woken by the sun shooting ray through the opening of the curtains, and I wasn't happy about that at all. I had tossed and turned all night, waking up and having dreams about Eric. How his hands set my skin on fire, his skilled mouth leaving kisses on my neck, our naked bodies touching and moving as one. I groaned at the replay of the dream in my head, and jumped in the shower.

When I walked into the kitchen it was empty, except for a note that Gran left. She was at a churchmeeting, and would eat out. Which meant it would be a quiet day for me, but that was just fine. I ate some toast for breakfast and drank a cup off coffee while scanning through a magazine. The solitude I had now was a blessing.

The morning passed in a relaxing pace, just like the afternoon. I had cleaned the house, exterminating every little piece of dust I could find and get everything squeeky clean. Then I started preparing dinner, a simple dish with the leftovers from last evening. There was a rerun of some old Buffy episodes on tv, so I perched myself on the couch, setting a glass of iced tea on the small table and the plate on my lap.

The empty plate was washed clean and the glass got a refill. There was an old romance novel that I had wanted to read for a while, and now was the perfect time. Gran called, telling me she wouldn't be home for 2 hours, which gave me some more time to myself. I walked over to my room to fetch the novel, but a knock at the door stopped me dead in my tracks. It couldn't be Gran, because she had called not 10 minutes ago she would be home late.

There was another knock, a louder one. I took that as my que to walk over and open the door. I was a little irritated at the lack of patience the person that showed up at my door was showing, since there were more knocks that followed the last two ones.

"Don't get your pant.." my jaw dropped when I took in the person that was standing on my porch. His black wife beater clung to his muscled chest, his jeans fitted and a worn leather jacket was slung over his arm. He took my breath away, by just standing there.

"Hey Sookie."

His voice was like velvet, and my voice sounded ten times more sophisticated rolling of his tongue. I stood there speechless, still taking him in. There were bags under his eyes, and there was a scruff covering his jaw. The self assured air that bordered on arrogance was gone and it showed me a different Eric. Even when nervous, he would remain to keep himself together, showing no weakness. Now, Eric looked lost.

"You're here." I stammered, the surprise hadn't left me yet.

"Yes. I am."

I gave him a soft smile, which he returned. The sparkle made it's way back for a moment, but didn't manage to light the fire in his eyes.

"Come in, please." I pulled him in the house by his arm. Wrong decision, touching him made me realize how badly I craved feeling his skin on mine. I pulled away, and offered him something to drink and asked him where his suitcases were and then how long he would be staying, or if he even would stay. Together with some other stuff I couldn't remember. I was rambling big time, not being able to shut up.

"Calm down Sookie. I'm staying, but I don't know for how long... I'm staying at a hotel in Shreveport." He said while following my movements and sitting down at the kitchen table, staring at his glass.

"Why are you here?" the tone in my voice was not kind, and Eric looked shocked at my harshness. To be honest, I was too. There was a pregnant silence, filled with the sounds the outdoors. The sounds of a storm coming up, just like Gran had predicted.

"You promised me a date," there he flashed me his perfect teeth and made me melt right on the spot. Weren't we fighting the last time we saw eachother?

"You flew all the way here, drive to this podunk town and knock on my door to tell me I promised you a date? That's hard to believe."

Eric shrugged nonchalantly and took a large gulp of his iced tea.

"I'm here now," he finished his drink and stood up, "I should probably start driving now, or I won't be able to check in."

My Southern charms were back in the game, and this time I was grateful, because I didn't want him to leave yet.

"You can stay here. We have a guest room. This way you won't have to drive through the storm and everything."

Eric smiled his award winning smile, and accepted, he did seem a little antsy but went to retrieve his suitcase anyway. I showed him his bedroom and where the bathroom was.

Eric enjoyed the feeling of the house, telling me he loved how cozy and warm it was. It surprised me he liked it so much, since this was such a strong contrast to his LA home, but it made me feel good anyway. We talked, but avoided the subjects we both dreaded to discuss.

Eric wished me sweet dreams and went to bed, looking even more tired than he did when he knocked on my door. I decided to wait up for Gran, updating her on the new arrival.

I was watching tv when I heard the sound of tires on the gravel, which meant Gran was home. She walked in the direction of the house, stopping on the porch to wave at her ride and continued her way into the house.

"So, who is the special guest that owns that beautiful car." I turned off the tv and walked over to Gran and hugged her.

"Eric's here, I offered him the guest room. That's not a problem is it?"

Gran gave me a funny look.

"He can stay as long as he wants. I need someone to do some chores around the house anyway. Well, I'm off to bed." She gave me a kiss on the cheeck and disappeared in her room.

My eyes felt heavy, and I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow, having the best night's rest I had in a while.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: There's a little treat for you in this chapter.  
>Enjoy. :]<strong>

Chapter 10

I walked into the kitchen, noticing the two plates and cups sitting in the sink. Eric and Gran were already up, and had breakfast before me. There was a plate with eggs and bacon waiting for me in the oven, keeping it warm. I put some bread in the toaster and poured myself a cup of coffee. Gran had run off again, shopping with Maxine in Shreveport, leaving me and Eric to ourselves to catch up. On the note she had written, she had drawn a winking smiley. Gran was sneaky, but it made me smile nonetheless. At least she tried to keep up with the youngsters. The gesture made it clear she and Eric were getting along without any troubles. When I was dating Bill she never made those small gestures, not once. Bill was always a perfect gentleman, but his good manners possessed a studied air, that they were forced on him when he was a child. Bill's actions lacked sincerity. Eric –when he wasn't being a dick- could surprise you, because he did have manners, and they weren't acted out.

I grabbed my laptop and checked my emails. There was an email from Sophie-Anne, the producer, that we couldn't stay away too long. The media was getting restless, and Eric and I both hadn't commented on the stories made up by the media, and now they were making up their own crazy stories. I stopped reading it after that, there was no need to ruin my good mood. If it were up to me, we would cross that bridge when we got there. That didn't eliminate the fact Eric and I had to talk all this out, since we needed to explain our absence, and the talk we had to have gave me another thing to worry about. Other than that, there was no big news, just an email from my boss. She wanted a column for the next issue. Immediately, my mind went to the southern soul food. After all, I was in the area. I would ask Gran to prepare some of her specialty dishes, seafood gumbo. It would be something different from the low-fat, healthy dishes I normally wrote about, since the restaurants in LA had an unhealthy obsession with those, but it's best to write about what you know, right?

The sun was shining bright, and was calling me. I grabbed the novel, changed into my bikini, grabbed another glass of iced tea and walked out onto the grass field in front of my house. When I adjusted the recliner to the perfect position, I lied down and started reading. My mind drifted off, making me forget time. The sound of someone chopping wood pulled me from my musings about the leading man in the book, who was now busy pursuing the lady with passion you could only read about in the trashy romance novels I loved to indulge myself in. After trying to zone out the background noises, my curiosity got the better off me, and before I knew it, I was walking around the house following the sounds.

I was rewarded with a sight that made me gasp out loud. Eric was swinging an axe, splitting logs with no effort. The shirt he should be wearing was thrown over a branch, and his chest was fully exposed. A layer of sweat was coating his perfect muscles, that flexed with every movement he made. That his jeans were hanging dangerously low on his hips, showing of the v-shape of his abdomen, weakened my legs even more. God had obviously spend a little more time to create a man like Eric, because never in my whole life had I stumbled on a being more beautiful than him. Or a more beautiful butt. Oh yes, I went there.

"Hasn't your Gran taught you that it's not polite to stare?"

Eric had stopped chopping wood and had turned to me. The huge smirk he was wearing made it clear he noticed that my jaw was hanging open, with emphasis on _was_, since I snapped it shut and I scowled at him. Eric looked very amused, and not at all affected by my childish reaction.

"I was.." I should've thought about a cover story first. My mind raked over excuses, but each one of them was even more farfetched than the other. Lying never was my strongest quality, and I didn't approve of it except for the little white lies that wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Admiring the view?" he purred, finishing my sentence for me.

_Yes. Yes I was. Please continue and let me watch._

"You wish." I spat back. Eric didn't buy it –who would- and his smirk now turned into a grin.

"I am. Both wishing and admiring the view right now myself."

His blue eyes travelled down my body and up again, his tongue darted out to lick his lips. I had totally forgotten I was wearing my bikini. My discomfort level rose again, remembering the bodies his 'girlfriends' had. The thought he was playing with me jumped back in my head, even though it shouldn't, but I couldn't help it. We hadn't even talked things out, and yet here he was, flirting like he hadn't walked out on me, like I hadn't walked out on _him _numerous times. The old Eric made an unwanted reappearance. The Eric who could only communicate with women by flirting and talking in that ridiciously smooth sex voice. I stared at the ground while my head was working overtime. There was nothing I'd rather do than leave, to not feel his eyes on me. Eric took a step in my direction. It was clear he was hesitating, the small step being executed in a slow pace. Before he could come closer, I turned around and fastwalked back to the house.

The warm gravel that surrounded the house burned under my bare feet, but it didn't stop my escape. I braced myself with my back on the door, taking deep breaths to calm myself. There was a part of me that was so mad at Eric for being able to act like nothing had happened, that he didn't show up at my doorstep last night looking tired, lost and miserable. Eric was all over the place and I had no idea how to handle it, I could barely figure my own thoughts out, let alone his.

I could hear footsteps on the porch. I closed my eyes and prayed that person –my money was on Eric- to go away. No such luck. There was a soft tap on the door.

"Sookie?" another tap. I clenched my eyes shut, thinking I was invisable and he would walk away after realizing I wasn't home. He couldn't see me, there was a door between us.

"Sookie, I can see you through the glass."

Fudge. My master plan had failed. I opened my eyes and let out another sigh, but kept my back to the door. A minute or so had past, the longest one in my entire life, and Eric also hadn't budged, showing he was as stubborn –or desperate?- as I was.

"You're hiding from me." Eric asked more than simply stating it, which would normally be the other way around, stating instead of asking, being confident over doubtful.

I turned around to face him, well, looking at him through the glass of the white wooden door. Eric's hands were placed on both sides of the doorframe, his face directed at the planks on the porch. The tshirt that was swung on a branch was now covering his upper body and he was still sweaty from working in the scorching sun. When he noticed I had moved his head snapped back up again, and immediately his eyes had found mine. I slowly nodded my head, conforming that I had in fact been hiding from him. How mature.

There was no trace of a smirk, no sign showing he was enjoying this. I was now facing the guy who stood on exact the same spot last night, except now he looked hurt. The way he looked when I told him I was leaving LA for a while. I realized I had left him, before he walked out on me, and now I was running again. I was tired of running and tired of being the reason why Eric felt bad. I wanted to be the reason he was happy, and him to be my reason for being happy. I opened the door, which surprised Eric. The frazzled look he gave me made me smile a little, it made him look so much younger.

My fingers brushed a stray strand of blond hair from his face and tucked it behind his ear. We both leaned in eachothers body instictively, both craving the need to touch eachother.

"I'm so.."

But before I could even apologize for my actions, Eric had silenced me by pressing his lips on mine. His tongue traced my bottom lip, and without hesitation I opened my mouth. My hands were grasping his hair, the slight tugging spurred him on. I would be in need for a shower when this kiss would end to cool down. Eric was a very good kisser, and his hands that were roaming my body, were capable of making me kick all rational thoughts from my mind. We stumbled backwards when Eric pressed me against the wooden planks next to the door, our kisses frantic and needy. I let my hands wander under his shirt. Eric growled when my nails raked over his abs, his stomach tensing from the contact of my cool hands on his warm skin. Suddenly, Eric pulled away, leaving me breathless in the best way possible. We were both panting, struggling to catch our breath.

"Sookie.." Eric's voice was husky and his lips red and swollen, "we should stop."

He wasn't even bringing it convincingly, how could you when your hands were still firmly planted on my ass. He did have a point. I knew it, he knew it. We both failed to come to terms with it. After all, kissing and touching his amazing body was so much better than having a talk that would probably end up in us fighting. The choice wasn't hard; we both prefered kissing. So that's what we did.

Eric lifted me up, my legs wrapped around his waist, and made his way into the house. We ended up on the couch, with me covered by his body. My legs around his waist provided us with the friction we both wanted, and before long we were moaning from it. Eric's lips traced my jaw, and moved on to my neck, biting and sucking. I wouldn't care if he left a mark, as long as he wouldn't stop everything was fine with me.

Eric looked a little confused when I pushed him back, but that expression changed quickly when I pulled off his shirt and flung it away. Our moans became louder and louder, and our kisses more aggressive. I wanted him. Badly. And from the situation in his pants I could say the same for Eric.

"Sooks! What the hell?"

Eric jumped of me so fast he lost his balance and landed next to the couch. I sat up straight and fixed my dishevelled clothing, both embarrassed and angry. Of course Jason would show up at the worst time, probably to eat out of our fridge and drink the few beers in it.

"Who the fuck are you? And what are you doing with my little sister?" Jason shouted at Eric, who was busy trying to find his shirt, that was draped over on a lamp in a corner. I pointed it out for him, ignoring Jason's rather red head. Eric grinned at me and put his shirt back on.

"Jason," I chided, "watch your tone."

Eric sat down next to me on the couch and grabbed my hand, a gesture I hadn't expected from him in this situation. The butterflies were all over the place again.

"I'm Eric. Nice to meet you."

I'm sure Eric wasn't thrilled to meet Jason, especially in this moment.

"Whatever. I gotta go work again. I'll talk to you later Sook. Don't get too comfy there, _Eric, _we're not done."

As he left he gave Eric one last cold glare, Eric glared right back. No, they didn't like eachother at all. When the sound of Jason's truck had faded away I hid my face in Eric's chest. My brother had walked in on me dry humping a very sexy Swede on the couch. Eric and I could never catch a break. I wonder how many people would know about my situation tommorow. Jason could never keep his mouth shut.

"I'm so sorry." I groaned out. Eric just laughed, and after a couple of seconds I was laughing with him.

"We can never catch a break, can we?" he said between laughs, like he had read my mind seconds ago.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: This is another heavy chapter. Angsty angst.  
>Just bear with them; we'll get to the good stuff soon. <strong>

**Chapter 11**

Eric's statement about us never catching a break couldn't be more true. Over the next few days there was limited alone-time to be had, and none of those times were good for our talk. We cuddled, and kissed every now and then, which all in all was very nice, but you don't enjoy those kisses that much with a constant nagging of that little voice in your head. Eric seemed fine and the way he acted was as if he wasn't bothered at all with our severe case of denial. We could always have _our talk _later. The first couple of times I could understand why he didn't want to talk it out, it's not like I was jumping with enthusiasm. After a couple of days, however, you start to worry. I started to think about what I had done, or said and if any of that could be a reason for Eric to shut himself out like this. The worst part was; he became more distant by the day. Even worse; he only acted that way with me. Gran got the vibrant, funny and smiling Eric while I got to handle the one who was capable of showing no emotion at all. I was worried, but I also couldn't help but get angry with him. I know that we still had a long way to go, but I felt that we had reached a point where we should have at least a little trust. I did want to be able to trust him, and him to trust me, but we couldn't do that the way we were acting now. He couldn't even tell me how he really felt. It was like living with a moody teenager, everything was 'fine' and 'great' and after a couple of days there were barely conversations longer than two sentences between us. There was too much that reminded me of the way Bill started treating me towards the end, and I wasn't going to let that happen again. Not to mention; Eric has hit a low point before in his life. I wasn't close to him so I've never witnessed it first handedly, but I _was _on the same show. Eric was drinking a lot, partying every night and probably ending up snorting coke from some hooker's stomach in a hotelroom. It would've ruined him if it wasn't for the producers and Pam saving his ass. At that time I wondered why his parents weren't around to support him? I did the same thing right now. Eric had never mentioned his family. Everytime I became so angry I wanted to give up, I realized that the man I felt for needed time. I was willing to give that to him.

Eric and I were sitting on the couch watching Friends on the tiny screen. Gran went to bed 10 minutes ago, leaving us two in awkward silence with the tension shooting through the roof. Gran wasn't dumb, and she noticed the way we acted around eachother. The only time she tried to talk to me about it hadn't gone well.

I was in the kitchen, working on my column that was due for tommorow. Gran had really outdone herself, and Eric and I reaped the benefits from it. Eric ate himself so full he actually had to lie down for a while. That wasn't mentioned in the article, although I would never forget it. I was just finishing it up when Gran walked in.

"Did you notice Eric acting a little off?" very smooth, Gran. I chose to ignore it and shrugged my shoulders. Ofcourse I knew, she didn't even have to ask.

"He's always so happy.. you should keep him happier if you want to keep him close."

There was something in me that totally snapped. Gran should know half the stuff that happened between us, she had no right to speak.

"I have to _keep _him happy? I can't do that for him. He doesn't let me."

"Nonsense. Every man wants a woman to keep him happy. You should try harder."

I stood up so fast my chair fell down on the floor behind me. I had only snapped to Gran a number of times, I could count them on one hand. Most of the time it was because she was so old fashioned about things I simply wasn't. This being one of those cases.

"Don't tell me to try harder. Don't tell me what to do."

I was close to screaming at her. Not wanting to make my Gran lose all her faith in me I decided to get some time alone to organize my thoughts. As I ran towards the front door in a hurry I bumped into a very shocked Eric. Ofcourse he would've heard everything we said.

"Get out of my way Eric."

He hesitated, but eventually moved out of my way. We didn't speak a word to eachother for the rest of the day.

The subject was avoided after that, though Gran did gave me some judgemental looks from time to time.

I gave some glances in his direction during the episode, and I knew he looked at me a couple of times as well, but neither of us said anything. At the end of the episode I had enough, I grabbed the remote and turned of the tv.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm good." His eyes were glued to the floor as he said it, his hair covering up his face like a curtain. I resisted the urge to brush it behind his ears. For someone who was 'good' it looked like he felt the opposite.

"Don't lie to me. Please tell me what's wrong. I know there's something you're not telling me. Are you upset with me? Did I do something wrong?"  
>Eric looked me in the eyes for the first time in 2 days. It was progress, even though it lasted a couple of seconds. That eyecontact was the first sign of his defences failing him. In those seconds it became clear that the situation wasn't hopeless and the Eric I felt for was still in there. There was a long pause. When Eric finally started talking I was at the point where I wanted to pull out my hair from the frustration I felt.<p>

"You did nothing wrong. It's just..." Eric fell silent again, leaving me at the tip of my seat waiting for the big climax. I apparently did nothing wrong, but even though Eric claimed it was that way, a huge part of me thought it was to get me to leave him alone. That part of me was probably right.

"I'm tired. Sleep tight."

You could've knocked me over with a feather, or you could photograph me and laugh at how far my mouth was hanging open. Or both. Talk about getting blown off.

Eric simply stood up, nodded in my direction and made way to the guestroom he was staying in. That nod probably was the worst thing he could've done. We have been living in the same house for 5 days, we kissed, we made out on _this _couch, we were photographed making out on _his _bed. And the only way to properly wish me good night is to nod. Once again, Eric had found a way to piss me off. With my blood boiling I walked over to his bedroom and didn't even bother with knocking while walking in. Eric slammed the laptop sitting on his lap shut and jumped off his bed. I think the look on his face mirrored mine, anger.

"You can't burst in like that." He hissed while he pointed at the door.

"_You _can't just come over here, walk into my life, act the way you do and expect me to just sit back and watch it happen," Eric opened his mouth to talk but I continued, "you followed me here. Which made me believe we could work everything out, but we can't even talk about it. We can't even have a normal conversation."

Tears were welling up in my eyes, again. I've never had that problem that whenever I would get mad I automatically started crying, but with Eric the tears kept coming. In this case it could work in my advantage, Eric could handle every type of woman, except the ones that cry. And my Gran.

A switch flipped in his head. His face relaxed, and once again he reminded me off that kicked puppy. Eric walked around the bed and in my direction, and tried to pull me in for a hug. I shrugged him off me and walked backwards to the hallway. His eyes never left mine. Even in the dark they were radiating. Something in his eyes was pleading me to stay, but the rest of him screamed at me to leave. I whiped the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand, preparing myself for saying what I was about to say.

"You can't keep pushing people away. They won't wait forever."

I closed the door after saying it, I had no interest in seeing Eric's reaction to that sentence. It was what I had wanted to tell him for a while, and now I had. From this point on it was up to Eric how to proceed.

I threw on an old football shirt from Jason and crawled under the covers after brushing my teeth and washing my face. I was very tired, physically and emotionally. I closed my eyes and drifted off quickly, but woke up again from someone knocking on my bedroom door. I walked –it was more like stumbling from the sleepiness- to the white door. I looked at my alarmclock on my nightdresser and saw it was 3 in the morning.  
>Even before I opened the door I could've guessed who was standing there. It was Eric. First, we had a thing for walking out on eachother leaving the other person with thousand questions, now we knock on eachothers doors. For someone who looked miserable and tired, Eric was still really something. He was wearing flannel pyjama bottoms and skipped <em>everything <em>else. If I would knock on someone's door at 3 in the morning, without sleep or grooming, that person would think I was a nightmare. Eric still looked liked a dream. Life can be so unfair. I forced my hormones to calm down, hormones could make our situation only worse, and asked Eric what was wrong.

"Can I stay with you? I don't want to be alone."

I nodded and grabbed his hand. There was no way I was going to ignore him, sounding the way he did. I hadn't stopped caring for him or falling for him, and my heart broke a little when I heard the sadness in his voice. If it were Bill doing all this, I already would've given up. Sometimes it surprised me that Eric could find his way back to me. Maybe it was because I wasn't ready to see him go just yet. Together we walked over to my bed and crawled under the covers. Eric was a tad too big for the bed, but he made himself comfortable by draping his body around mine. I could feel the warmth of his body against mine, and smiled in my pillow because of it. Being held by Eric is a whole new experience, and the rush I felt from the first touch hadn't changed. Eric's touch could still set me on fire.

My trail of thoughts was interupted by a certain someone nuzzling my neck and pulling me closer against him.

"I've missed this," he placed a small kiss behind my ear, "I'm sorry for acting the way I did.. Do you hate me now?"

I turned around to face him, which was hard with his arms holding me close to him, but I managed. My hands went up to cradle his face, making sure there was eyecontact.

"No. I don't hate you. You wouldn't be here if I did," he gave me a small smile after hearing that. It was obvious he was relieved. There still was more to be said though.

"I want you to trust me. You can talk to me, Eric. I want this, _us_, to work but I won't be doing all the work. You need to work too."

Eric nodded, looking very determined. He placed a kiss on my lips, and then my forehead. I smiled and gave him a quick kiss on his lips back and turned around so we were spooning again. Eric let out a long sigh before nuzzling my neck again, his new favorite spot. I was on the edge of falling asleep before Eric broke the silence for the last time, smiling against my skin.

"You won't get rid off me that easily."

"Right back at ya."

That's how I fell asleep that night, with Eric as my security blanket though I was one for him more. In some sort of twisted way; it felt nice to be the one Eric wanted to be comforted by. We actually took the first step. I said what I wanted to say, and Eric hadn't run away. The funniest part was, or the most surprising part; Eric and I slept together for the first time, and all we did was sleep. Eric hadn't pushed me, or even showed interest in taking things further. I knew it must've been killing him (hell, I could feel how much he wanted to take things further) but he still let me choose the pace.

Eric was still sound asleep next to me, snoring lightly. It actually was cute. What was less cute, was his excitement pressed against my back. That was plain torture.

Eric and I could have all the troubles in the world, but I never felt not attracted to him. The man was a god.

I didn't trust myself with him so close to me, and I really needed to go to the bathroom, so I tried to wiggle myself free from his grasp. Bad move. As I tried to pry myself away, he pulled me closer. I wasn't going to give up easily, however, so I gave it another try. A husky voice stilled my movements.

"Do that again, it feels great."

It took me longer than I want to admit to figure out what he meant. As I gasped Eric started to laugh. He had enough pity to release me, and stared at me with his hands folded behind his head. The way the blanket covered him made it look like he was naked. Eric, naked in my bed, that would be something.

The smirk decorating his face made it clear I had been out for a while taking in the perfection that were his muscles. I picked my mind up from the gutter and went to the bathroom to take care of my bussiness. My bed had remained occupied with a certain man, who patted the mattress, wanting me to join him. I jumped back under the covers and rested my head on his chest. We fell into a silence, a comfortable one. My fingers drew patterns on his stomach, while his fingers were twirling my hair and releasing it. After a while Eric let out a long and deep sigh.

"Have I ever told you about my parents?"


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Here is some EPOV to show his side of the situation. There is also a little treat for you guys at the end of the chapter.  
>Anywhoozles, enjoy!<strong>

**Chapter 12**

**EPOV**

Going over to Sookie's place of birth was supposed to be amazing. It should be smooth sailing all the way. Me, sweeping her off her designer shoe clad feet given to her by one off the many up and coming designers, that were falling over eachother to get Sookie to wear one off their items. Everything would go better than expected. We would have the best time in Bon Temps and return to LA as the two happiest people on earth. Her family would love me, her friends would be happy for her and couples would be seeing green with envy from seeing the way we adored eachother. Everything would be great. Nothing could go wrong.  
>That was me fantasizing about the trip during flight and while driving over to her. At that time I had no idea her brother would walk in during a very heated make-out session on her Grandmother's couch, that Sookie never even mentioned her smalltown friends and that Bill called me one time, and that <em>one <em>fucking time would pull me back towards doing what I did best; distance myself from someone to much that it would end in hate.

Her brother ruining our moment of lust and passion wasn't that bad as in feeling humiliated. For me, nudity wasn't such a huge issue. And from all the stories I heard from Adele –Sookie's gran insisted I called her Adele- Jason wasn't in the position to claim that what we were doing was wrong. Jason would be best described as a 'manwhore', that's what Sookie would call it. She called me that once or twice when she was frustrated with me. Adele told me a couple of stories starring a very drunk Jason, and while I was laughing with her, I also realized it wasn't funny at all. Sookie's brother lacked responsibility and even though he was older than his little sister he didn't fit the part. Sookie was helping Adele around the house with cleaning and cooking. Jason was helping with creating reasons to clean and cook. Seriously, doesn't he have an own fridge to empty?

The amount of work I did in the garden and the things I had to fix made it clear there hasn't been a whole lot done in the past months or even years. Jason literally did nothing except for get drunk, eat and pass out. I think Sookie not only missed her Gran because she was close with her, but she was worried as well –that much was obvious. Sookie was sneaky the way she handled her Gran. Stackhouses were very stubborn people. Adele may be sassy and have the energy of a teenager, she could still fall or trip and break a hip or something. What would Jason do then? Call Sookie? Probably.

Adele seemed to like me, however, and her opinion mattered a whole lot more than Jason's.

When Bill called me I was fixing the shutters of the windows. Most were hanging crooked and the paint fell of in flakes. When I bought new ones, Adele was very put off at first, but then she realized that her reaction wasn't ladylike, and in the end she accepted them.

I didn't want to answer it. Not only because it was Bill, but because I wanted to not deal with LA and it's people. In the end I answered it anyway. Bill was still my friend. Sort-of. With faked enthusiasm I greeted him.

"Hey. What's up?"

"I know you followed Sookie. I know you want her. If you don't leave her alone I will tell her that you knew about Lorena all along and didn't tell her. Or should I tell her about how you threatened your own father, while you were drunk and high. You don't deserve her more than me, Eric. If she knew what you had done, would she still be all over you? Think about that."

And with that he hung up.  
>This was the one time in my whole life I actually saw Bill as a threat to me. And Sookie. If she would know, then she would be hurt again. Bill was right about one thing; she wouldn't be with me if she knew half the shit I had done. Sookie was pure, innocent and sweet. I was ruthless, stupid and fucked up. She wouldn't like me if she knew I had driven drunk countless times, done drugs with people I didn't even know, went to parties with a girl and then left with another. No, Sookie would not like that at all.<p>

Throwing in my parents was a low-blow. The relationship with my parents had always been tense, my father in particular. He was an arrogant, self-absorbed drunk. It makes me hate myself that in the end I turned out just like him, though he really was a drunk, thankfully I never got there. It was close though. My father and mother were a couple that had their ups and downs. The downs overruled the ups by far, and it was sickening how my mother let my father abuse her emotionally and sometimes physically. I told her to leave, that I could provide for her and she wouldn't have to be afraid, but she always went back to my father. No matter how big the bruise. I wanted to let my father know how it felt to be hit. And when my mother called me one night in tears, telling me she locked herself in the bathroom I couldn't take it any longer. I went over there, pinned my father to the wall and shouted at him all the things I wanted to shout at him for a long time. I said that I would kill him if he touched my mother again. My mother stayed with me, untill one day she once again crawled back to my father. I rarely speak to them now.  
>That one phonecall was all it took to make me feel shit. Sookie knew something was up, but I didn't want her to know. I didn't want her to come close to me either, if she would find out the blow wouldn't be that hard, because she didn't know me that well.<p>

My plan was working however. That much was clear from the heated discussion with her Gran that I overheard by accident.  
>"Nonsense. Every man wants a woman to keep him happy. You should try harder."<p>

Yeah right. Look at my parents. They're doing just fine. Sookie ran out to the hallway, where I was standing. Her eyes were dark and storming, she was very pissed.

"Get out of my way Eric."

I wanted to hug her. But I couldn't. So I got out of her way.

The fact Sookie and I were barely talking was killing me. I wanted her, but also not wanted to want her. If I want her, I would act on it, and she would want me. But if she wants me and she knew the whole story that is my life, she wouldn't want me. And she would wish that she had never wanted to want me. I thought it over once or twice.

I thought it about it again as we watched Friends together. Adele had gone to bed earlier and now it was just me and Sookie.

Her smell was intoxicating and it took all the willpower I had not to throw myself at her and finish what we started on this couch. God, don't get hard.

Sookie decided she had enough, catching me by surprise by just turning the tv off. No way to escape things now.

"What's wrong?" The pity in her voice was something I hadn't expected. I expected her to be fucking angry with me. It sounded as if she wanted to help me.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm good." Denial? Yes.

"Don't lie to me. Please tell me what's wrong. I know there's something you're not telling me. Are you upset with me? Did I do something wrong?"

My eyes found hers automatically.

"You did nothing wrong. It's just... I'm tired. Sleep tight."

I'm such a pussy. Fuck. Now I needed to do something to acknowledge that we in fact knew eachother. A hug? A kiss? A pat on the head? My head was so filled with panicked thoughts I gave a curt nod and got the hell out of there. Sookie was not pleased. I bet she wanted to kick my ass on the street instead of helping me.

I opened my laptop and stared at the screen. Do something. Do anything. Check your e-mail. Or something.

Suddenly, Sookie stormed into my room. My panick was now turning into anger. I was running out of escape routes.

"You can't burst in like that."

Next thing I know, Sookie started crying again. Women that cry aren't my favorite thing in the world, Sookie crying is just heartbreaking. I acted on the need to hold her, but she shrugged it off and left my room.

"You can't keep pushing people away. They won't wait forever."

Fucking. Punch. In. The. Gut. I was such a dick. I tossed and turned for a while in my bed, but the rest never came to me. My mind was all over the place, my mind was Bugs Bunny. And that short sentence Sookie spoke was the 1000 kilo iron weight that crushed the Coyote time and time again. Now I'm using cartoons as metaphors. Maybe I'm crazy.

Before I would talk myself into more confusion I jumped out from my bed. The one person that made me feel calm and could comfort me was Sookie. My mind was blank, my body automaticaly went in the direction of her room. My memory could've been erased, and still would that magnetic energy Sookie possessed lure me to her. She was my lighthouse. A very hot and curvy lighthouse.

I knocked on her door, admitting to feeling alone. And also giving her the pleasure of being right. I was pushing people away. And it wasn't even accidentally. I did it all on purpose.

Sookie allowed me into her bed, and allowed me to drape myself over her. The bed was too small for a tall guy like me, but with strategic movements I made myself comfortable. Sookie's body fitted into mine perfectly. I nuzzled her hair and neck, taking in that amazing Sookie smell. Not in a stalker way, she actually smelled amazing. It was vanilla with something I couldn't pinpoint.

Sookie didn't hate me, but wasn't thrilled about my way to approach things. I could talk to her, and trust her, I was sure of that. But I'm too much of a dick to actually act on it. Before I fell asleep I decided to tell her everything tommorow. Well, the stuff about my parents. The Bill-part will be kept for later. I wanted us to be okay first.

Sookie trying to escape from the cage that were my arms, that was the wake-up I got. It would've been cute, if she wasn't grinding her ass against my rockhard erection. The urge of pinning her to the bed grew and grew. My caveman subdued after a while and I let Sookie go to the bathroom.

Once she returned I patted the mattress, and she sat down next to me, snuggling against me under the covers. We shared a nice silence, just cuddling and soaking up eachothers presence. It was a good way to wake up.

"Have I ever told you about my parents?"

The words were out there before I could think about them. Maybe snuggling is messing up my brainfilter. However, it was too late now. I felt Sookie tense up next to me, so I prepared myself for the worst. Her body relaxed again, and so did I.

"No," she whispered, "you haven't."

So I told her everything. I told her about the dysfunctional relationship my parents had. How my father ruined my mother's life, how my mother let her get treated that way. I also told her about the confrontation between me and my father.

"Did you really want to kill him?" Sookie asked me, after I told her the things I shouted at my father in my fury. I thought about it a while.

"I couldn't kill anyone. Ever. But I wanted him to know what it feels like to be scared to death. I was so mad I couldn't even think straight. Turns out I had broken some fingers while shoving my father against the wall. I hadn't even noticed, I was that out of my mind."

I showed Sookie my left hand, where my middle finger and ring finger were slightly crooked. She traced them with her own. Sookie lifted her head and placed her chin on my chest, looking me straight into my eyes.

"Were you drunk? That night with your father?"

I nodded, slowly.

"Yes. But I don't do that anymore. I've done bad stuff, but I don't want that. I want stability. I want you."

I emphasized my statement by brushing some of her blond hair from her face. Our hair was the same shade of blond. When our hair was sprawled out on the pillows, you couldn't see which hair belonged to who. It was something small and stupid, when you think about it, but it made me smile and feel fuzzy inside. Yeah, my balls were definitely gone.

"I want stability for you too," Sookie lips curled up into a small smile, "and I want you too."

She crawled up my body and pressed her lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against me, with her straddling my lap. After a few innocent kisses, our need and lust took over. Sookie was grinding herself against me, and a moan escaped from her as I attacked her neck with my teeth and lips. My hands slipped under the large t-shirt, cupping her breasts. Finally.

Sookie's hands wandered down my chest, down to my navel and into my flannel pyjama bottoms. I groaned when her hand wrapped itself around my now painfully hard erection. I was so blue-balled that I almost came at the first touch. Sookie's hand moved up and down in a rythm that was way too good, it was already the best handjob I've ever received.

"Shit. Fuck. Sookie. I'm like a 13 year old right now." I managed to groan out.

Sookie just smirked at me, before letting the nails of her other hand scrape the inside of my thighs, to cup my balls. Then I lost it.

Sookie grabbed a washcloth and cleaned us both up. Immediately after she was done I pinned her to the bed, something I had wanted to do for a long time. I took of her shirt and attacked her breasts with my mouth. I gave them both enough attention to make Sookie squirm under me, begging me for more. Before I made my way down south I smirked at her, earning me another beg from Sookie.

I finally reached the white lace of her panties. I hooked my fingers in the sides to pull them down. I was so close.

But some people don't want me to finally pleasure Sookie. Some people like other people to feel sexually frustrated. Some people knock at the door to announce that breakfast is ready, while some people are about to go down on someone. Like I was about to go down on Sookie, untill her brother decided to ruin it. Again. He should move to the other side of the world. Gives us all some peace and quiet. And some sexual relief.

"Yeah Jase. Coming." Sookie answered, her voice a little panicked. Jason should know how Sookie's statement wasn't true.

"By the way, have you seen Eric? He's not in his room."

Sookie looked even more panicked, I just grinned broadly.

"I'm in here."

That earned me a soft slap. Sookie obviously didn't want to let people know we spent the night together. Again without really getting anywhere.

I finally gave into the fact that the moment had passed and went downstairs to get dressed. I passed Jason on my way, and grinned at him. He didn't have to know nothing happened. The scowl he gave me was enough indication that the big-brother talk was coming soon. It also showed he still didn't like me that much. Sookie did, and that was all that mattered.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: I'm back. Sorry for the gigantic long wait, there are some lemons to make up for it.  
>it's summer vacation now and I'm enjoying it very much. I went to Berlin with friends and it was amazing. Definitely a place I would recommend. The museums are great, as are the people and public transport. It also helps the alcohol is really cheap. Really, 2 mojitos for 7 euro. I had way too much of those, so maybe it's not <em>that <em>good.  
>Ah well. Enjoy this little chapter. They soon will be going back to LA and get on with real life. <strong>

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><p><strong><strong>

**SPOV**

If Eric had been more open to people about his youth and the things that had happened in his life, people close to him would know why he acted the way he did. He didn't, and people saw him as an arrogant, spoiled jerk. That was how I saw him. Until he told me about his parents and how he came to be the person he was now. He was protecting himself by letting no one come close to the real Eric. If he kept people at a safe distance they wouldn't be able to hurt him like his own parents did. I would never do that to him, not after seeing how big the impact it had left on him. Especially after seeing the hurt and shame in his eyes when he told me. The confident air he always seemed to possess was gone, and all it left was a person that was scared of being abandoned again.

The relief I felt when he told me he wanted to be with me was bigger than I wanted to admit. My stomach was doing flips and I think I had a perma-grin on my face after hearing him saying it. There also was a sense of relief seeing him having a big grin on his face as well. Maybe it had something to do with me searching for my inner minx, yeah, that would probably had to do something with it.

When we met again in the kitchen for breakfast, Jason was scowling and giving me and Eric glances. I hoped he wouldn't tell Gran that we slept in the same bed. She was very oldschool. She would let us spend the night, but we should've ask beforehand. Eric wouldn't appreciate the explanation that he stood on my doorstep like a kicked puppy who needed to be held and comforted. I shook my head at him when Gran walked in the kitchen, trying to make it clear he shouldn't mention our sleepover.

Eric gave me a wink when I did so, which earned him another judgemental look from Jason. I grinned back at Eric. We probably looked as if we couldn't be apart, and like total weirdo's, but that was good. I didn't care. Eric wanted me and I wanted him, that was all that mattered. Jason had no right to scowl, he just totally ruined our moment. At least Eric had relief, but I felt like dragging Eric back to my bedroom and let him take control. I think Eric would be a total caveman.

"Eric would be a total what?" Jason asked with his usual confused expression. My cheeks burned, I can't believe I said that out loud. Eric gave me his smirk, he obviously heard it all. Why did my brainfilter fail me at moments like this? I'm glad Jason wasn't that smart, and that my Gran's hearing wasn't what it used to be.

"Nothing. Let's eat."

Gran had made another feast, making sure everyone was well fed. Eric and Jason scooped their plates full multiple times, while me and Gran were filled quicker. There was more conversation then the last couple of breakfasts, since Eric and I had our down-moments, but Jason's pout never disappeared. After he left Gran didn't waste any time, immediately jumping on us.

"What did you two do? Did you pick on Jason?"

Eric and I chuckled softly first, but the expression on my Gran's face told us both enough that she wasn't just only asking about Jason. It wasn't hard to see the changes in our dynamics. We barely talked for a while, and now we were sneaking glances and smiles. Eric was the one to speak first.

"I don't think he likes me. For being with Sookie."

I placed my hand over his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Even though that doesn't bother me that much, I do care about what you think Adele. It would be good to know what you think of me dating Sookie."

My Gran's eyebrows shot into her hairline. I don't think it was because she didn't approve of Eric, but because yesterday we were still in full-on ignore mode. She stayed quiet for a minute or so, looking from me to Eric and back again. I could feel Eric's knee bouncing in a nervous rythm, and if I wasn't covering his hand with mine it probably would've gone straight to his hair.

"Well.. I do approve of you courting my Sookie," Eric's body relaxed and he gave me a soft smile, "but.."

Now he tensed again and the soft smile became a panicked glance in my direction. He actually was a puppy right now, having a reaction to every little movement. It surprised me I was this calm, while Eric was freaking out. I simply knew that my Gran would approve of him, and us.

"Remember to treat her like the lady she is. Treat her badly and I will hop on a plane to LA and give your ass a good whooping."

Eric let his nerves escape with a sigh and promised to her he wouldn't dare to treat her any other way. I received a wink from Gran, finalizing her approval. We cleaned up the table and the kitchen, everyone in a lighter mood, joking around and smiling broadly. It also didn't escape me that Eric hands had the nasty habit of slipping over my ass and legs when my Gran wasn't looking. The actions from this morning were still very prominent in his thoughts as well. That was confirmed when my Gran left to go into town. As soon as she exited the kitchen he had me pinned against a wall, attacking my mouth with hungry kisses. I was putty in his hands immediately.

"I'll be having lunch in town, so don't expect me home before 4." She stood at the front door from the sound of it. Only a couple of meters away. The way Eric could make me act was a far cry from acting lady-like. Take this moment for example; I was grinding my body against Eric's in the kitchen, while the woman that raised me was standing mere meters away. The woman that just told Eric to treat me like the lady I am. So wrong.

I gasped and tried to push Eric away, scared that we would get caught. Eric didn't have the same plan. Instead of backing down and follow my Gran's rules, he nipped at my neck and found the soft spot where my shoulder met my neck. I let out a soft moan.

"Sookie? Did you hear me?" Gran asked, her voice closer than the last time. _No. No. No. Yes. Right there. Wait. No. Answer the question. _

"Yeah. I heard you," keeping a normal tone while you have a very skilled and sexy man kissing every inch of your exposed skin is very hard, "we'll make dinner. So don't worry."

Eric decided that he had explored my neck enough, and claimed my mouth in a searing kiss. I didn't even know if my Gran had left, or if she already did minutes ago. All I could think about was the man kissing me right now, all I could hear were the moans and groans we both produced, all I could feel was his body pressed against mine setting me on fire. Right now, my world revolved around him. We had wasted enough time being stubborn and stupid. This, what we were doing right now, felt so right. And not just because he had picked me up and grounded himself against me. No, just because somehow it all fitted together. I tugged on his hair, eliciting a growl from him that went straight to my lady bussiness. I made a mental note; I could be a bit rougher than I was with Bill. Bill was boring. Eric's kisses topped the best sex I had with Bill. That's sad, for Bill. I was in seventh heaven drifting on pink clouds. I ripped off Eric's shirt, threw it away and let my nails scrape over his abs. I could feel his muscles flex underneath my touch, making me smirk against his lips.

"Don't get too cocky, lover."

Before I could respond I was being laid down on the kitchen table, the one we just had breakfast on. It probably should've been wrong, but it didn't feel that way.

"We'll buy a new table." Eric groaned against my neck, as if he suddenly had the ability to read my mind. From the way I could feel his arousal against my center there wasn't any plan of stopping on Eric's part as well.

"Ok." I murmered while pulling his swollen lips on mine again.

His hands soon found their way to the bottom of my shirt, playing with the hem of it for a while before pulling it off. My bra was the next piece of clothing to go. If his ass was my favorite part of Eric, then my breasts would be the favorite part of me in his eyes. He payed them both attention, licking, biting and fondling and soon he had me writhing and moaning again. Bill didn't even manage to make me feel this turned on when I was close to an orgasm. Eric and I hadn't even went all the way, and I wanted him more than anything. I didn't want to be the only one begging, so I let my hands wander down his chest and over his abs. I played with the button of his jeans before flicking it open and pulling down the zipper. The fact he had gone commando brought a smile to my face. Eric's fingers went to the buttons of my shorts, I took that as my moment to grab the base of his erection and give it a slow pump. It caused his hand to jerk, releasing the button he was working on.

"Fuck. I want you. So bad." He groaned.

"I want you inside of me Eric." I manage to moan out when his fingers slid inside of me, my hips jerked into his moved hand.

I whimpered when his fingers left me, making him chuckle.

"Patience lover."

There was the distinct sound of a condom wrap rip, and I was glad that Eric had come prepard, I wasn't even mad that he felt opportunistic enough to stuff one in his pocket. He rolled it on himself and positioned himself at my entrance. We locked gazes when he slowly started to enter me, inch by inch. He was bigger than Bill, and I felt relieved he knew to take it slow. I could feel I was being stretched, but in the best way possible. I closed my eyes, bathing in the feelings of pleasure.

"Look at me lover." Eric commanded. I obliged automaticly, like it was nature's call. He began to move in a slow rythm, making my body feel comfortable with him inside me. There wasn't a better feeling in the world. His eyes were on fire, making me feel exposed under his lustfilled gaze, like he could look into my soul. Soon his pace picked up and we were clawing at eachother's backs, biting and scraping our teeth over the skin closest to us. Eric hitched my legs further up his waist, hitting a spot that made me scream over and over. Hopefully, no one would come over today, because they might've thought something horrible was going on around here. How wrong they would be. Eric's thrusts became harder and he muttered something in a language I couldn't understand. It was primal.

When I came my whole body shuddered, making my muscles feel like jelly. Eric finished soon after me with a roar. I was afraid he was going to crush me with his body, since I couldn't hold him up even if my muscles were working again. Thankfully, he braced himself on the table.

"Fucking hell. That was fucking amazing." He said with one of his lopsided grins. I nodded in agreement, not able to form normal sentences just yet. Suddenly, I was scooped up in his arms.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Shower."

And it was the best shower I've ever had.


End file.
